Nowhere To Hide
by AmericanHorror420
Summary: "I'd always wondered what it would be like to be a werewolf in a zombie apocalypse. Too bad I had to find out the hard way: experience." Set in season 2, but doesn't follow the original storyline, except for mentioned past events.
1. Morning After

I'd always wondered what it would be like to be a werewolf in a zombie apocalypse. Too bad I had to find out the hard way: experience.

There are good things, and there are the things that are in that category, but they're more complicated. Like the strange sense of smell. I can always tell when a zombie is nearby, because they smell like rotten road kill. Then there's the bad thing: the transformations. They're more confusing than one would think. I mean, come on. If I ran into any survivors (which I wasn't planning on) and they wanted me to stay, how was I supposed to explain that every full moon I run into the woods to sprout hair and fangs? Exactly. Even though I wasn't planning to run into anyone…

That's exactly what I did. And it wasn't in any way that I thought I would encounter some random person.

It was the morning after my monthly transformation. I was stumbling through the trees, trying to remember where I was by grasp a hold on my surroundings. Trees. None of which looked familiar; and it didn't surprise me one bit. I had a huge gash on my side with blood gushing out of it. I had found my clothes, but the pants weren't wearable, so I was stuck with an oversize t-shirt. I was limping from muscle soreness (hey, if your bones and muscles stretched to an inhuman form, you'd hurt, too). I looked around towards a small noise, and found something I thought I'd never see again.

A dark-haired man was watching me from behind a tree, cautiously raising his gun in my direction. He must've thought I was a zombie. I would've too, because I was a fuckin' sight. I had blood all over me, including my mouth from my appetizing deer dinner from that night. Yeah, I was surprised that I was still walking. Not that he could kill me, it would just hurt… Like a bitch.

"If you're going to shoot me, I'd suggest you get it over with." I said to him, my voice hoarse.

He stared at me for what seemed like an hour, the spoke. "You been bit?"

Figuratively, yeah, I smirked to myself. Just not in the way you're thinking. "No." I said aloud. "Just really fuckin' sore."

"Are you alone?" God, I hate it when people ask short questions. I just nodded my head. "Well, you see, me and about ten others are stayin' at a farmhouse about a mile north. If you want, you can stay with us."

I thought for a minute. Stay? I didn't know if I could risk it. He said there were ten others there, so I could end up hurting someone. What if I just cleaned up, took some clothes and headed out at night when everyone was asleep? That way no one would ever know about me, I wouldn't hurt anyone, and all was well. Perfect plan. "You said a mile?" He nodded at my question. "I don't know if I can walk that far at a normal pace. You don't mind going a little slow, do you?"

He slowly approached me. "I'll carry you, if you want."

I nodded. "That'd be nice." He wrapped his arm behind my back, then hooked the other behind my knees and lifted me bridal style. "If I get heavy, don't hesitate to drop me." I tried to chuckle, but my lips didn't have the energy to smile.

"Nah, little lady. You're light as a damn feather." He started walking and I rested my head on his muscular shoulder. "M'name's Shane Walsh."

"Anna Wiley." Then, I looked up at him. "Were you in the Army? You're muscular as all get out."

He seemed to beam with pride at my observation. "Nah, I'm a… Well, was a cop." I nodded. Walsh. That name sounded so familiar, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. With me being what I am, I had many run-ins with the law. So for all I know, he was probably one of my previous arresting officers, since cops and judges were the only people I was used to seeing for the past four years.

"Oh, that's nice."

"Mhm. What about this cut on your side? Or is that blood from something else?"

Shit. "I stabbed one of those zom-"

"Walkers." He interrupted me. "Don't call 'em nothin' but walkers when we get there. It'll scare the ladies."

"What the hell does that make me?" I scoffed.

He chuckled lightly. "Well, you seem different. I can already tell you ain't gonna be Dixon's favorite."

I snuggled against his chest, my bare legs getting goosebumps from being exposed. "And who the fuck is this 'Dixon'?"

"No one you need to worry about right now, girl." As he said this, we exited the treeline and came upon a farm house. It was about three stories high, white, and was surrounded my people. Living people. I couldn't have been more excited in my whole life. If I wasn't so sore, I'd hop out of Shane's arms and do a happy dance in front of everyone. So I just closed my eyes and waited to be laid down somewhere, a bed preferably.

"Shane!" I heard a woman yell and someone running over. "Who is that?"

"Lori, this here is Anna Wiley." She's pretty banged up, but she seems to be alright otherwise. Where's Rick?"

"He's with Carl. Why?"

Shane cleared his throat. "I just, uh, wanted to talk to him. In the meantime, can you get her checked out and cleaned up?"

Shane was becoming my favorite already. I wanted a hot bath, hot to the point that the steam cleared my nostrils, to where my skin turned red. Though, I really wanted to find out who this 'Dixon' guy was, he'd have to wait until later. I don't know if it was my animalistic instincts kicking in, but something told me that I didn't want to miss meeting that guy.


	2. Introductions

**Okay, so in this story, I'm hoping to get Carol to break out of her shell a little bit, starting with this chapter :) Hope you guys enjoy!**

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><p>"Oh. My. God." I said as I sank down into the boiling hot water. Since there wasn't any hot water, a woman named Carol had boiled a couple of pot-fulls and made a bath for me. Carol was such a nice woman, but something about her told me that she had a traumatizing past. Don't we all.<p>

You see, I wasn't a werewolf by choice. I was only six when I was bitten. Over ten years of monthly turnings my have driven me crazy if it weren't for my father. When he found me in the woods at five in the morning eating leftover deer carcass, he vowed to protect my secret. He and I were the only ones that knew until he died. I remember that I cried for almost a week straight. I never went back to school after that. I didn't know how to protect the people around me, so I stayed inside and never went anywhere except to eat. I lost all my friends after that, too.

Then, shit hit the fan a month or so later. I was coming from being locked in the basement, which is how I kept myself from attacking humans, and my next door neighbor, Tori, was standing at my door, which had somehow come open. She was covered in blood, snarling and she smelled like something horrible. When she came at me, my instant reaction was to grow my claws and fangs, making my eyes change from blue to yellowish-amber. I swiped at her with my hand and slit her throat, spilling black, foul-smelling liquid all over the floor. Then, to my surprise, she ran away.

I had never heard of a zombie running away before, so I tested my theory. After a few experiments, I figured out that zombies were afraid of werewolves. And that's how I ended up here, at 'Hershal's farm', as Shane had called it. I never needed weapons, because I never needed to kill anything. The only thing that worried me these days was that if I was in my were-form, and I attacked one of those things, would I get infected? Or would my enhanced immune system fight off the infection. I was afraid to find out, more or less.

A soft knock on the bathroom door interrupted my thoughts. "Anna? Are you okay?" It was Carol.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I have some clothes for you if you don't mind me coming in."

Carol was a woman, so I had no problem. "No, Carol." I said as I sat up in the water. "Come on in."

Carol stepped in and closed the door. Her soft features were defined and her blue eyes were brought out by her graying hair. "I don't know what size you are, but judging by your size, you must wear a medium."

I smiled at her. "You're exactly right. How'd you know?"

"Mother's instinct." I listened closely to her heartbeat. It was slow at first, then the mention of being a mother seemed to quicken it. I was afraid to ask, but I could tell that she lost a child in the shit storm we now had to call life. Since I was already clean, I stood up and grabbed a towel after letting the water run out. I wrapped the towel around myself and gave Carol a hug.

"I bet that you made mother of the year."

She chuckled lightly. "You don't even know me."

"You've taken care of me since I got here, and you don't know me." I let her go and unwrapped myself from the towel to dry my hair.

"Good God. What happened there?" she gasped, eyeing the scar from this morning's gash. I'd already healed, and I was thankful that she couldn't see my other side.

"I fell on a tree branch a couple years ago." The lie came smoothly, easily, like meringue. I slipped on the underwear, jeans, bra and tank top that fit my body perfectly. Then I looked at my hands. "God, I need a mani."

"You know, I have some nail polish in my bag." Carol said. "If you want to use it."

I grinned at her. "I love you, Carol. You plus me equals makeshift manicure."

She followed me out of the bathroom, then went downstairs to where her bag was. "Candy apple red?" she asked. "I'm afraid that's all I have."

"That's perfect." I said, then she led me outside. Everybody else was crowded around a picnic table, and they turned to Carol and I with expecting faces. "Uh, Carol? Did I do something wrong? Why are they looking at me like that?"

"They just had a group meeting." she said, shaking the polish bottle. "And by the looks on their faces, I think they want you to stay. So do I." She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. Smiling looked really good on Carol, and I found myself wondering if she didn't do it often.

I looked back up at the group and saw a familiar face. One I never wanted to see again. "Officer Grimes?"

Rick Grimes turned to me. "Hello, Anna. Long time, no see."

"How long has it been?" I asked with my hand on my hip. "Seven months?"

"Well, last I heard of you, you were in a cell."

"Last I heard of you, Grimes, you were in a coma from being shot, yet here we are."

"Yes." he sighed. "Here we are."

"Rick." the woman named Lori whispered. "How do you know her?"

I went ahead and answered for him. "He's been my arresting officer for the past two years."

"I knew that I knew you from somewhere." Shane smiled in accomplishment.

There's alot of things that these people didn't know about me. Like how I was a werewolf, or how I had a short temper fuse, or that I was a sex addict, or how Rick cheated on his wife with a certain someone so that I could get out of going to juvie before the full moon hit. Believe me, that was only the semi-interesting stuff.


	3. Nail Polish and Confessions

Yes, you heard exactly what I said. I had had sex with Rick mulitiple times. Mostly, it was quickies in his car, but I couldn't risk being in a cell during my full moon phase. So, if I was caught by Rick doing something stupid, I would offer him the goods, and he'd let me off the hook. If I was caught by someone else, I was fucked. It amazed me that he was always around during the full moon times, and sometimes I speculated that he knew, but he never said anything to me about it.

The only reason I answered Lori's question is because that's what he told me after one of our, ahem, meetings. "If anyone asks, I am nothing but your arresting officer."

Rick and I looked at each other in an awkward staring contest for what seemed like forever until a blonde cleared her throat. "Okay, introductions." She began. "I'm Andrea, and this is Dale." She pointed to an older man with white facial hair. He waved a hand at me, and then a black man spoke.

"T-Dog." He nodded in greeting.

"I'm Lori, you know Shane and my husband, Rick, and this is my son, Carl." She put her hand on a young boy's head. I thought he was adorable with his face full of freckles.

A man with white hair wearing suspenders nodded. "Hershel."

Then a brunette with short hair held hands with an Asian guy, as if staking claim. "I'm Maggie, and this is Glenn."

Carol hooked her arm around mine. "Of course you know me," then she began to look around. "He's around here somewhere, though." She mumbled.

I waved at everybody, and then Carol led me to a tree. "Here. Sit and I'll paint your nails." We both sat down on the grass and crossed our legs. "Sophia and I used to do this all the time." She said as a tear slid down her cheek. "Whenever Ed was out, we would have a girl's night." She took my hand and massaged my cuticles. "We'd have to wash off the nail polish and get the smell out of the house before he got home, or he'd…" I tensed up at the cool feel of the polish on my nails. "He'd get angry."

After a second, I grabbed a hold of her hand. "Now, you listen to me." I wiped a tear away. "If a man hits you, it means he's too much of a pussy to handle a problem head on." Then I thought for a moment, and then realized what made her so emotional about it. "He hit Sophia, too, didn't he?" When she nodded, I continued. "Then he deserves to be dead. I guarantee you that your little girl is looking down at you and smiling. I bet she's proud of you, too."

Carol looked at me with watery eyes and half a smile. "You have a bad past, don't you?"

"Something like that." I nodded.

"What are you hiding, Anna?" Carol caressed my face, and then she looked past me. "He's here." She whispered.

I turned around. A man in a cut off flannel shirt was standing there and watching us. He had dark hair and stubble on his handsome face. He was holding about five squirrel strung up on a string and a crossbow was slung up on his shoulder. Needless to say, he was hot. "You must be the famous Dixon." I said as I walked up to him. I held out my hand, "Anna Wiley."

"How the hell you know my name?" he asked in a southern drawl. I couldn't help but inhale his scent. Faded cologne that a human nose wouldn't be able to detect, pine trees, blood and traces of kerosene. It was, I daresay, very masculine and seemed to fit his rugged features. "Watcha smilin' for?" His question came out rather rude towards me.

"There's something about you, Dixon." I chuckled and turned to go sit back down with Carol. "And I plan on finding out what it is."

"Whatever." He scowled at me. "Go back to paintin' your damn nails." Then he walked off, mumbling something that he thought I couldn't hear. "Last fuckin' thing we need 'round here. 'Nother damn woman."

"I can assure you, Dixon, I'm far from the average woman."

He stopped and turned around, a stunned look on his face. I didn't do anything but smirk and sit down. Carol looked confused, but continued painting. When she was finished, I painted hers and asked the question that had been on my mind. "Carol? What happened to Sophia?"

Her muscles immediately tensed at the mention of her daughter's name. She looked around nervously, and I figured that I'd struck a nerve. "I'm sorry." I said, shaking my head at myself. "I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's okay. It's just hard to get used to. We, uh, were all, the group, walking down the highway when walkers showed up. So we all hid under cars. Sophia was under the one across from mine. She was all by herself." She paused to sniffle. I could tell that she was holding tears back. "Then, a couple walkers chased her into the woods. Rick went to find her, but she ended up lost. We looked and looked." This was Carol's breaking point, because the tears steadily began to flow. "When we got here, we eventually found out that Hershel was hiding walkers in the barn, and Shane went crazy and let them out. And Sophia was… She… My little girl…" I didn't let her say anymore.

"Carol, I know this is hard, but she's in a better place now." I finished her last nail. "I'm getting ready to go for a walk. Do you want to go?" I nodded towards the trees.

"Oh, no." Carol said with a small smile. "You couldn't pay me chocolate to go in there. And believe me, that's a lot these days."

"I just need to get a way for a second, but I'll be back."

She squeezed my hand. "Please, Anna, be careful."

"I promise." I told her, then ran off into the trees.

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><p><strong>YUSH! Carol broke her shell with someone BESIDES Daryl :) And I finally got Daryl into the story :)<strong>


	4. Caught Red Handed Literally

Sometimes, when I'm overwhelmed, I need to get away. It makes me feel better, especially when I can be myself. When I felt like I was a safe distance away from the house, I let my canines extend, my nails change and my eyes evolve. It was times like these that stressed me out, and when I could be myself, it made my whole day better.

The sound of footsteps snapped me out of my relaxation, and the rotton stench made my stomach turn. A fat walker was looking right at me. It didn't move until I raised my eyebrow in challenge, then it charged. Growling, wheezing, bleeding, oozing, limping. I was ready to strike when it hit me. It tackled me to the ground and tried to bite me, but my defence stystem was on high. I stuck my thumbs in it's eyes, my palms on either side of it's head, my claws popping it's eyes with a sickening sound. I then shoved them further in until I hit the brain. I squeezed my hands together until it's skull cracked, then shattered when I applied more pressure. It's blood covered my upper body, and I kept my mouth shut until I rolled it off of me and howled in victory. Another stick cracked, and I sniffed the air, ready to strike again, but this scent was all to familiar. _Shit._

"I knew it!" A voice yelled from behind me. "I just knew it!"

I turned to see Carl standing and pointing at me. I quickly retracted my features, then asked him, "You knew what?" I was secretly hoping that he didn't see what I had just done and how I looked, but the blood was all over me, so I was screwed.

"That you're a werewolf!" I flinched at his words. "Ever since you came in today, I could just tell." His eyes lit up. "And now it's proven."

"Look kid, what are you doing in here anyway. Didn't your daddy ever tell you that the woods isn't safe?"

"Shane told me to look after you. I have a gun, you know." He lifted up his shirt to show me the revolver tucked into his pants.

"So, what do you want now?" He seemed surprised that I was taking it so well, but then again, the only thing they could do was send me on my way. I seriously doubted that anyone at that camp owned any silver or wolfsbane infused bullets. If they, ahem, blew my head off, I'd be dead, but they'd have to remove my head completely from my body. When he didn't answer, I started walking back to camp.

"Where are you going?" Carl tagged along right beside me.

"To tell Carol that I'm leaving."

"Why?"

"Someone knows." I said flatly. "I'm a danger to everybody I associate with. Especially you. And besides," I stopped and looked at him, "you're gonna go tell your daddy as soon as you see him."

"No, I'm not." He grabbed my hand. "I wouldn't want anyone to know, either."

There was something about this kid. He wasn't afraid of me, like I suspected he would be. He was smart, and I wasn't going to try and talk him out of not saying anything. "Aren't you scared? I mean, I'm a fucking werewolf. You're not afraid that on the next full moon I'm going to rip everyone apart?"

He simply said, "Nope."

After we started walking again, I said, "Go ahead."

"Go ahead and what?"

"I know you're loaded with questions, little dude. Ask away."

A moment of silence past between us, and I wondered if he was going to ask anything at all. Then he finally spoke up. "Does it hurt? When you change?"

"Like a bitch." I answered honestly. "It feels like someone strapped you up and is pulling your limbs apart from your body, like your head's exploding. Every bone in your body breaks and re-arranges itself to fit your form, your muscles stretch and your organs shutdown for a short period of time until the change is complete." I shuddered at the memory. "The morning after though…" I trailed off. "I'm usually so sore that I can barely walk. That's the reason why Shane carried me this morning."

"What about your senses? Smell, taste, hearing? What about strength?"

"Strength? You want me to carry you?"

A smile lit up his face. "Sure!" I bent down so he could get on my back.

When he was nice and comfortable, I answered his other questions. "My strength is super-human, and taste is the same, I just crave different things. I can smell a walker from a mile away."

"What do they smell like?"

"Rotten roadkill." I said smugly. "Sometimes I can't stand in a crowd because it smells so bad. And my hearing is crazy. I can hear conversations from the barn…" I paused. "And the people talking are in the house."

"Wow." He said. "How fast can you run?"

"As a human?" He nodded. "Want to find out?"

He gripped onto me tighter. "Yeah! Please?"

I took a deep breath and held onto his legs. "Are you ready? You may get a little nausous the first time, so tell me when to stop, okay?"

I felt him nod. "Don't drop me, okay? How far are we from the house?"

"About two miles, I think. You ready?"

"Yeah."

I gripped onto him and began to run as fast as I could back to the house with Carl on my back. Trees whizzed past us in a blur and I began to feel a little light-headed like everytime I ran like this. Carl didn't weigh that much, so it wasn't much of a difference in speed. I wasn't actually going as fast as I could, but it seemed to please Carl, because he didn't know. His heartbeat was eratic and as I ran, I couldn't help but think that I had made my first actual friend.


	5. How To Phase A Man

We broke through the tree line, laughing from joy and pure happiness. It's true, I was happier than I had been for a long time. Someone other than my father and I knew my secret, and that person was totally cool with it. I felt like dancing. I could be my actual self around someone else, and I wouldn't have to worry them telling anyone. In fact, Carl was so curious about what I was, that he barely got a breath in between questions. I'd answered them all honestly, all except for one, which I didn't answer at all.

Carl had asked me about a werewolf's mating season, which reminded me that mine was coming up soon. I'd told him that he was too young to know such things, and that he wouldn't get a thing out of me.

You see, mating season is when werewolves mate to either reproduce, find their life mate, or, if you're a newly bitten that's already hit puberty, just for the hell of it. When the season is in action, a were usually wants to fuck anything that reciprocates sexual desire. Trust me, it's not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes the situation can get a little carried away. When a werewolf orgasms, their body's reaction is to automatically grow their teeth, nails and their eyes change, so if they want to mark their mate, they are able. When a human sees that, they tend to freak out… A lot.

I wasn't going to explain that to a ten year old, so I decided to completely avoid the question. While Carl was with me, I didn't think of what his mother thought of him being with me in the middle of the woods. Turns out, she didn't like it at all. "Carl!" she said, running up to us while we were still laughing. "Where have you been?"

"We were just taking a walk." He answered as he slid off of my back. "We're okay, Mom."

"Why does she have blood all over her shirt? Rick! Shane!" she yanked Carl away from me, giving me the dirtiest of looks as I pondered what story to tell them. I hadn't come up with one on the way back. "You can't just take my son anywhere whenever you please."

"Hey," I held up my hands. "He followed me, so don't bitch."

Rick, Shane, Andrea, Hershal, Dale and Dixon came running over, wide-eyed at me being covered in blood. Dixon raised his crossbow in my direction, giving me a look that put Lori's to shame.

"Are you okay?" Shane asked me. "Were you bit?"

"No, Shane, I'm fine."

"Prove it." Dixon took a step towards me.

"Back off, Daryl." Rick defended, never taking his eyes off of me.

I didn't know how else prove it other than taking off my shirt. "Turn him around." I said to Lori, referring to Carl. Then, I took of my shirt, tossed it to Dale and slowly spun in a three-hundred-sixty degree circle, raising my hands in surrender. "See? No bites, just scars. Can I go now?"

Rick wasn't really phased by my shirtless upper body, being that he'd seen it many times, but Shane and Daryl were staring. I could smell the pheromones rolling off of Shane, but it wasn't like that with Daryl. So that meant that he was either gay and like the design on my bra, or he was staring at my scars. I was hoping and praying that it was the second choice, because I wanted that fine piece of southern redneck ass for myself. Don't get me wrong, Shane wasn't bad looking, I just like a challenge, and Daryl was giving me one.

Every scar on my body had a story. I actually had a journal that was more like a novel, telling the stories of every encounter that resulted in every scar for future reference. It was a pretty long one, considering that there are exactly two hundred thirty-six (two hundred thirty-seven since this morning) scars that marked my body. Rick had never asked about them when we were together, but sometimes traced them with his fingertips.

"Anna?" Carol pushed past the guys. "What's going on?"

"The bitch came back with Carl-"

"You better watch how you throw that word around, Dixon." I growled through gritted teeth. I can't stand the word 'bitch'. That word's definition is 'female dog'. Since I'm of that certain 'breed', I find it assulting and I tend to take it quite personally when someone misplaces that vocabulary.

"She saved me." Carl interjected. "A walker came after me, and Anna beat it's head with a rock."

Shane and Rick cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" When I nodded at the lie, Shane chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned. We got ourselves a fighter. What weapons did you use before you came here?"

"My hands. That's all I need. You give me a walker, I'll desecrate it." I bragged, knowing that they'd get suspicious at my exaggeration, but at the moment, I didn't care.

"Yeah!" Carl turned around. "She stuck her fingers in it's eyes, and... Hey, why don't you have a shirt on?"

"Shit." I chuckled. "Dale?" I held up my hand, silently telling him to toss my shirt to me. I quickly put it on. "Better?"

"Nope." Shane shook his head with a smile. "Not really."

"Yes." Lori shot Shane a look. "Much. We don't need a woman showing it off around my ten year old son. C'mon, Carl."

As they walked away, I couldn't help but call her the name that I despised most. "Fucking bitch."

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><p><strong>So yeah, it's obvious that I don't like Lori. ANYWAY! Hope you liked it :D<strong>


	6. Letter To My Readers

Dear Readers,

Okay, so if you watch the news, you probably know about the tornadoes that demolished my town (Pekin, Indiana). Thank God I wasn't home at the time and niether were my friends. Three of my best friends and I lost our homes, and the Babcock family (of which I knew very well) passed away. They were unfortunate and they were home at the time. Little twenty month old Angel, the last living member of that family, sadly lost her life on Sunday, March 4th, 2012. Please pray for the survivors of our small town, in hopes that we never have to go through this devistation again. Thanks for the support that everyone has given us already! I will probably be behind on updating due to the matters at hand, and I appologize. I have my laptop, and I will update as soon as I can. I posted some stuff yesterday because I typed it on Friday morning, so hopefully that will fill you guys up for now. :) RIP Babcock Family. You will be missed and never forgotten.

Sincerely, KayyeLovesHerSomeReedus


	7. Carl's Fatal Mistake

After a week of staying with the group, I'd become good friends with Carol Peletier. She'd told me a lot about herself, and I'd told her a lot about me. I'd learned that her daughter, Sophia, wasn't a planned pregnancy. Ed had started drinking when he found out, and started getting hateful and abusive around her seventh month of pregnancy. He pushed her around and screamed terrible insults at her. He didn't start physically hitting her until Sophia was born. Carol had said that she had been through some tough times in her childhood and that she was a strong woman who was raised not to take that from a man, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to leave Ed. Every time Carol had told me about the beatings that she and Sophia had received, my hands balled into fists, making my knuckles turned snow white and my nails dug into the my palms until blood started to trickle down my hand. I never let her know about my reactions to her stories, mostly because I didn't want her to worry, ask questions or lose her confidence in telling about her past. I knew that it's difficult to tell someone about an abusive past. My mom's sister was in the same situation, and she didn't come out about it until four years after it was over with. I was only eight at the time, but I was old enough to understand.

I'd even become great pals with Dale. Andrea wasn't too fond of me, though, but that didn't seem to matter to him. "You look just like her sister." Dale had told me, and that was one of the reasons why I stayed away from her. Dale was one of those people that you couldn't help but love. He was just like my uncle that I had rarely seen back in the day. I usually went to Dale when I was having a nostalgia moment and missing my family. He was really understanding during the times when I cried on his shoulder, and even opened up to me about his wife, who passed away from cancer not long before all this apocalyptic stuff happened. He told me that Andrea and her sister, Amy, of whom that I looked like, had met up with him while he was looking for other survivors and had become daughter-like figures to him along the way. Andrea didn't like me knowing about her relationship with Dale, and usually liked to say stuff about me behind my back, even when I could hear her from about two feet away.

Because of the anger that was building up inside me, I would go out into the woods and vent out everything that was enclosed in my 'anger box', as my father had called it. Sometimes, Carl would even tag along and watch in amazement as I tore a tree apart or fight a walker that was nearby. With walkers, though, I didn't have much luck a lot of the time. Being where we were, we were secluded from most civilization, so walkers wouldn't just stumble onto Hershel's property at any given time. I usually put Carl on my back and we would run for miles until we came across one that we felt needed put down, which was every one of them.

There was one, though, that I let Carl handle at one time, which I will never do again. We were about a mile from the house, and we came across a walker that was stuck in the mud. It was in about mid-shin deep, and it didn't notice us until we walked up to it. It started growling at us and trying to reach for us across the creek bank that was separating Carl and me from it. It was shirtless, and its grey, decomposing skin was covered in scratches and rotting wounds. The thing that got me, was that every walker that I had run into, their lips had been ripped off, so you could see their teeth and gums. It was a pretty ugly sight when it came to this walker. Carl looked at me, and I simply told him to check it out, because this was the only time that he would be able to see one up close without it attacking him.

He picked up a rock and tossed it at the struggling walker, taking his time to observe its reactions. He threw another one, hitting it in its shoulder. It cried out in a small growl, making Carl jump back a little.

"Carl, its fine." I said. "It's not going anywhere."

Carl looked at me, then at the walker. I stayed in my spot as he jumped across the small creek to get a closer look. The walker swiped at him, trying to turn and grab him. His feet wouldn't budge in the soft mud.

"Don't get too close, Carl. I don't want to have to dig you out of the mud." He ignored me, and started inching towards it. He pulled a gun, different from the one that he showed me last week, and pointed it at the walker. That gun looked extremely familiar, but I didn't say anything. I honestly didn't want him to shoot it, because it could and would attract more. "Don't get so close, Carl." I repeated. Again, he ignored me, but didn't pull the trigger. In a moment that was almost too quick for my eyes, the walker released its own foot and lunged at Carl, grabbing his foot. Carl fell on his back and dropped the gun onto the ground. I leapt to his rescue, kicked the walker's hand off of Carl's foot, and picked the younger boy up along with the gun. The walker growled and yelled, trying to get his other foot free.

I ran to the farmhouse with him on my back. As soon as we exited the tree line, I started scolding him like his mother. "I told you not to get too close!" I whispered harshly. "I told you! What would've happened if I hadn't been there, huh? Who did you get that gun from, anyhow?"

Carl looked down at the ground in shame. "It's Daryl's. Please don't tell him! I swear, I'll put it back."

"Dixon? Boy, you're in for it if he finds out." Carl gave me a look. "He's not going to find out from me, so go put it back while you got the chance." He ran off towards Daryl's camp, leaving me to face Daryl himself, who was coming from the other direction. "Hey, Dixon. Come here for a second." I waved him over. "Can I go hunting with you?"

"Why?" he replied in a rude manor.

"Because I'm good at it. And plus, I want to get to know-" At that moment, we heard screaming coming from the field. I recognized that voice, and so did Daryl. I started running towards the sound. "Dale!" I screamed. My stomach flipped as I started to smell fresh human blood. "No. No, no, no." I whispered to myself as I was still running. Daryl used to be close behind me, but I ran faster and faster as Dale's screams became more faint.

When I reached Dale, it was already too late. A walker was using its hands to tear into his stomach as Dale was trying to hold it back from biting him. It wasn't paying attention to me, so I tackled it off of him and put my fingers into its eyes and twisted its neck until it snapped. I then started beating its head with a rock until it stopped moving. Dale was dying, and I watched as everybody else ran to see what all the commotion was about. I didn't listen to their discussion about what they should do with him. I didn't want to listen. I had just started to make friends here, and one of them was already leaving me. I kissed Dale's forehead, then sat back to let Daryl take Rick's handgun to finish what the walker started. A shot cracked the intense silence, making me jump. I looked at the dead walker, then at Carl.

It was the walker that Carl had failed to shoot.

* * *

><p><strong>GOD I hated that episode. Dale was one of my favorites! ANYWAY! <strong>


	8. Ain't Nobody's Fault But Mine

I didn't go to Dale's memorial. I was too upset with myself to face anyone at the moment. His death was my fault, in a way. If I hadn't let Carl get a closer look at that walker, it wouldn't have gotten loose. If I would have killed it, it definitely wouldn't have gone anywhere. I was at fault for all the events that happened last night, and I was too foolish to admit it to anyone, even myself. Even Carl felt horrible about it. He kept giving me guilty looks throughout the night and this morning. Neither of us could sleep last night, and we went our separate ways. I ran into the trees and he went with Lori, who was more than happy to keep us apart. He was growing on me, I'll admit. Sort of like a little brother I never had, but I have a feeling that his mother would skin me alive if she found out that I risked her son's life almost every day by taking him around walkers. I know that Lori couldn't do anything to me, but there was something in her eyes that said if you messed with her family, you'd live to regret it.

During the memorial, I did what was normal to do these days. I ran. I ran away from it all, taking time to clear my head, an adrenaline rush pushing the blood through my veins like water. When I stopped, my breath was coming out in heavy puffs, my legs felt like they were filled with jelly. I leaned against the nearest tree, took a deep breath, and screamed. I screamed when the stress built up and I didn't feel like changing. At the moment, I felt that being what I was is what caused half the problem in the first place. So, I screamed as loud as I could. I wanted to forget everything. The urges, Sophia and Dale's death, the zombie-ridden hell that we now had to call home, the full moons, the worry, the fear, the guilt, the hell that Carol had went through as a wife, and most of all, I wanted to forget the lust for killing.

It had followed me everywhere, taking over my body like a flesh eating virus (pardon the pun). I was a werewolf. It was natural for me to want it, but it was my choice whether or not I let it take over. I hadn't had a proper kill in about a month. I needed a chase. To run into a hoard of walkers and rip heads off left from right, to make a human being draw on me first and have an excuse to snap his neck. I knew what I had to do now. I had to go to the nearest town and find whatever it would be to make it go away.

I booked it back to the farm, avoiding the thorns and branches rip into my skin and anyone who walked up to me when I broke through the tree line. Carol was the first to reach me. I just kept walking towards the nearest car, which was Shane's Hyundai. I kept hearing questions from almost every direction. "Was that you that screamed?", "Where did you go?", "Why are your arms bleeding?", "Did you run into a walker?", "Are you alright?" and finally, one from Carl, "What's wrong, Anna?"

I felt a strong grip around my wrist, yanking me to a stop. "Anna." Shane said in low voice. "What. Is. Wrong?"

"Let me go." I mumbled through gritted teeth. I tried pulling back lightly, but Shane held on. "Shane." I warned. "Let me go, or there'll be hell to pay."

"I ain't lettin' go 'til you tell me what's wrong."

I let out a sigh and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm taking the car." Then I swung and bashed my closed fist into his nose, sending him sprawling onto the dirt. I walked to the Hyundai, receiving looks from Lori and Andrea, while the others were helping Shane to his feet. Carol stared in my direction with a look of surprise, while Dixon watched me from a distance. A smirk of impression was etched upon his face, his crossbow was slung on his back, and his usual cut-off shirt was covered in a jacket that had a jean vest and black sleeves. I returned a soft smile in his direction and climbed into the green car.

"Anna!" Rick yelled as he ran after me. "Where are you going?"

"To town." I started the car. "I'll be back before dark." The tires scratched against the dirt as I peeled out of the yard. "Tell Carol and Carl that I'll be back." I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed that everyone's eyes were on me as I drove away, some with looks of worry, some with confused eyes, some with faces that said, 'Good riddance', but Daryl still had that smirk etched upon his features.

It took me twenty minutes to get to the nearest town. On the way, I passed multiple abandoned cars, crashed semis, the guardrails were bent in unimaginable shapes in some places and there were about thirty or so dead bodies on the ground, walkers, humans and some animals. The town I entered was called Loganville, the town that my mom used to live in before marrying my father. It was a small, but urban, town, so I guessed that there would definitely be some walkers wondering around here somewhere. I parked in a gas station parking lot and got out of the vehicle. It was almost immediatly that I began smelling the rotton stench of the dead wafting through the air, traveling with the short breeze that was ruffling my hair. I knew that they were close. They always were.

"Hello, Loganville!" I said in a loud, clear game-show-host voice. "I'm ringing the dinner bell, bitches! Come and get it!" I began beeping the horn on Shane's car, attracting the nearest walkers. A small group of about ten or more stumbled towards me, mouths dripping blood and other fluids. A wicked smile showed my mood as I advanced towards the dead group. My features changed and my adrenaline kicked in immediately. I let out a growl. "That's right. Come to Mamma." I jumped, tackling the first one that was in my way. I ripped limbs, twisted necks, slit throats, careful to keep my mouth shut and their teeth away from me. Before long, I lost track of how many deaths that I had caused. When the last one dropped to the ground, I howled in victory as usual. My wardrobe and hair was filled with dirt, blood, and any other fluids that walkers carry in their rotting bodies. I shivered in delight and disgust. Delight because my urges were fulfilled and you can only guess with the 'disgust' part. Unbelievably so, I was going to have a very calm week. I just hope I'm not wrong.

I broke a window to a department store to clean myself off. I tried the water in the bathroom, which was turned off. _Figures_. Pay no bill, there'll be no water. So I went to the drink isle and stripped my clothes. I poured the remaining bottled and gallon water on my body, washing off the blood and other unknown things. I walked, stark naked mind you, towards the clothes. I felt the breeze chill me and goose bumps made their way across my skin. I found undergarments, black skinny jeans, a long sleeve 'Hollister' shirt and some combat boots. A few months ago, I'd give anything just to get money to pay for some of those boots, and now I could have them for free. Somehow, it felt wrong. Unless I wanted to pay a walker some cash and chance getting eaten, I would just have to get over the feeling and put them on. And I did.

I walked back out onto the street, sporting the look that I used to wish I could have. I looked at the pile of scattered walker remains in the middle of the town's intersection, and watched as Shane (whose nose was bruised a deep blue), Rick, and Daryl yelled and searched for me. I whistled. "Hey. You want to attract another group?"

Shane looked at me in surprise, studying me in a manner that I almost felt uncomfortable with. Yeah, I know that I was wearing a skintight shirt and jeans, but seriously. If I wanted to get my rocks off with him, I would've done so already._ Maybe when the full moon rolls around, pal_.

"We thought you was walker bait." Daryl said. I couldn't help but hear that the pitter patter of his heart skipped a beat when he said that.

_You're imagining things, idiot_. I told myself. "I hate to tell you, Dixon, but a hoard of a thousand walkers couldn't kill me." I said with a wink, walking towards them. "How'd you all get here?"

"The truck." Rick pointed by the Hyundai where a blue truck was sitting. "Would you please come back? You worried us a little."

"Fine." I huffed. "But I'm driving the truck, and Dixon's riding with me. That's the deal."

"Why?" Shane asked, his nose clotted with blood.

"He won't ask stupid questions, such as yourself." Yeah, that was the best excuse that I could come up with, but it worked. Shane and Rick got into the Hyundai and Daryl and I hopped into the truck.

"You know how to drive this thing?" he nodded to the stick shift as he sat his crossbow in his lap.

"Baby." I said with a smile. "I've been handling sticks since I was a tot." I cracked an embarrassing smile as I realized what I said. "No matter how bad that sounds."

"Yeah, I'll bet you have." he mumbled with a voice that I wasn't supposed to hear. Nor was I supposed to smell his slight arousal. With a satisfied grin, I spun the tires and took off, throwing him off guard. "God damn it, woman!"

"You better buckle up, Dixon." I said, then added more dirty words to my sentence in a sultry voice. "I'm about to give you the ride of your life."

* * *

><p><strong>HA! I had to put some sexual innuendoes in there :D SO, it took me forever, but now I got to the point where Daryl is actually warming up to Anna. AND SHANE GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE, and that led to attraction? WTF? That's what I said at first. AND get this.. Shane's not gonna die in this one! He's much too loved to get knocked off in my story xD BUT there will be some things that happen to the poor guy. -SPOILER. I think he had to get killed off because he got cast in another television show, because he was Rick's right hand man, am I right? Anyway, I'm blabbing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)<strong>


	9. The Real Shane

"Oh my gosh, Anna, you scared me half to death!" Carol cried tearfully. I gave Daryl an apologetic look, which he returned with a scowl, and we went our separate ways after we returned to the farm. Carol almost knocked me backwards with a hug. "When you didn't come back, I thought…"

"No." I held up my hand. "Don't say it. I'm fine. I got into a scuffle, but I'm perfectly okay." When Carol left me to tend to other things, Carl ran up to me.

"Anna! Come walking with me!" Before he gave me a chance to answer, he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the trees.

"Hey, Wiley." T-Dog jogged over towards us. "That was a nice hook you gave Walsh earlier. Really."

I smiled. "Aw, thanks, T-Dog. I need to apologize to him, though. I don't know what came over me. "

"Still." He grinned at me, and then Carl pulled me into the place that got us in the most trouble: the woods. I didn't bother asking why he wanted to talk to me. I already knew that it was about what happened to Dale. I didn't understand why he wanted to talk in here, though, where it all started in the first place.

"Carl." I stopped, digging my heels into the ground to prevent him from pulling me any further. "What is it?"

"Dale." He said.

"Look, what happened, happened. There's nothing we can do to take it back. "I pulled him into a hug as a worried look spread on his face. "It's my fault; I should've killed it."

"I shouldn't have wanted to look at it, Anna."

"Don't worry about it." I heard him let out a breath, as if he was holding back tears. I heard footsteps behind me, so I whipped around, staying in front of Carl in protection mode. Luckily, I didn't change, because it was only Shane.

"Your momma's lookin' for you, Carl. She ain't happy that you're out here." I heard his heart do a specific tap as he lied through his teeth.

Carl hung his head. "Bye, Anna."

I returned a small wave as he ran off towards the farm. Then, I turned to Shane, but was surprised when I felt lips crash onto mine. Immediately, my mind started screaming obscenities at me, telling me how wrong it was for me to be kissing him, but when he pulled me closer, my automatic reaction was to run my fingers along his shaven head. His 'peach fuzz' felt funny under my fingernails, and I couldn't help but let out a giggle against his lips.

Shane pulled back. "What's wrong, darlin'?"

"You didn't have to lie, Shane. Carl will come back, you know." I looked up at him. "And, uh, I'm sorry about earlier."

He chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I like a girl who can kick some ass." Shane then pushed me against a tree and kissed me again, this time with more force. His arousal invaded my nostrils, along with his scent, and there was a smell that I couldn't place. His tongue traced my bottom lip, asking for an entrance. His hand traveled down my side and unbuttoned my jeans, and then he slipped his hand inside. His fingers started teasing me, and I'd be damned if I said that it didn't feel amazing. I moaned and rolled my head back, his lips moving to my neck. That mysterious scent was so familiar, yet so distant. It was on Shane, but it wasn't Shane. I remembered smelling it on Carl, on Rick.

It was Lori.

"Shane." I said, but it came out in a breathy whisper, urging him to continue. Damn it. I thought. "Shane. Stop." But he didn't, he started to pinch slightly on my sensitive spot, making me automatically buck my hips at the sensation, then he started biting my neck. "Shane." I said again, but still nothing. Fuck, Anna, your body's going to hate you for this. I shoved him off of me with all the strength I could muster at the moment. "You smell like her." I said through gritted teeth.

"Who?"

"Fucking Lori." I shook my head. "How long have you two been going behind Rick's back?"  
>"What the fuck you mean I 'smell like her'? You got super sences or somethin'?" Then, he said something else. "You think I don't know 'bout you and Rick?"<p>

Shit. Two slips in one sentance. "How'd you find out?" I asked as I rebuttoned my jeans. I decided to avoid the other question.

"Ever since it started, darlin'. He's my partner, my best friend. That man tells me everything."

"So you go behind his back with his wife? That's true friendship, right there."

"You were fuckin' Rick while he was married. What's that make you?"

"Desperate." I snapped. "Now leave me the fuck alone about it."

Shane smirked. "Did Rick smell like her, too? How come you fucked him, but you won't fuck me? Did you love him?"

"I said, shut the fuck up, Shane."

But he kept going. "I seen the way you look at that damn redneck, Dixon. You plannin' on fuckin' him, too? Oh wait, what about Carol? You switch to women after shit hit the fan?"

"Shane." I warned. "I'm not afraid to hit you again."

Again, he didn't stop. "Or maybe you get your rocks off with kids nowadays. Carl, for example." He chuckled darkly. "You know, Anna, I'm starting to wonder about you. You disappear into the woods on a daily basis, you kill walkers with no weapons. Do you fuck 'em to death? I find you the morning after the full moon, battered and bloody, and now the next full moon's comin' up. I'll be watchin' you, Anna. I wanna see you fuck up. Then, when you're at your most vulnerable, when you're gonna want it most, I'll get my chance to fuck that pretty little ass of yours. Bet you'd like that, huh?"

I couldn't hold it back anymore. He'd held the straw that had broken the camel's back. My jaw twitched as my canines released themselves. I shook, trying to hold back the beast within me, but it didn't work. I let out a low growl and tackled Shane to the ground, baring my teeth, showing it all, confirming his suspicions. I watched as his expression changed from amused to horrified. His eyes were wide with fear, staring at me in shock. The animal inside took over, and I reached down to rip his neck open with my teeth.

A sudden pain filled my side and I felt the warmth of blood spread across my shirt. I returned to my human self as I fell limp to Shane's side. I didn't hear a gunshot, so did I get bitten? I looked down at my side, my vision starting to blur. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was an arrow sticking out of me and a blurred man with a crossbow running towards me.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so, someone asked me if I was switching points of view for this story. I know this is weird, but no, I'm not. I feel that if this were a real scenario, you wouldn't be able to see inside someone else's head, so I'm sorry for that. There may be a POV switch <em>LATER<em> on in the story, but not anytime soon. And I'm sorry for the Shane fans out there, I'm one myself, but he had to be a dick _sometime._ Anyways, thanks for the reviews, guys. They're really inspirational! They are what make me keep writing! So review, review, review!**


	10. Step One: Engage Conversation

When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurred, but I immediately knew that it was Hershel who stood beside me. My side was now completely healed, and by the look on his face, he knew that too. I decided not to say anything and I slowly sat up. I was fully aware of his gaze on me, unable to form words to describe my condition. Now, in a matter of a week, three people knew about me. I'd gone almost ten years without anybody, but one person, figuring it out. With Shane knowing, there was no telling how many people knew now. I sat up and waited for Hershel to say something as I pondered the options that I had for when I'd be forced to leave.

"You know what I'm going to tell you. You're healed. I don't know how, but you are. Is this something you want the others to know?" I shook my head. "Alright then," he continued. "My suggestion is to stay in bed for a couple days to erase suspicion. Do you want to do that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess. What's everybody saying about what happened?"

Now, it was his turn to shrug. "I don't know, but a couple of people told me to let them know when you woke up. I guess they wanna see you. You okay with that?"

I nodded. "Yeah, send them on in."

Hershel left the room, and I already knew that Carol and Carl would be the first ones to come and see me, but they came with a third, a person that I would have never expected. Daryl came in behind them, a guilty look on his face. _Good_, I thought. I sat up again and put on a painful look to put a bigger guilt trip on the redneck. "Hey guys." I said semi-cheerfully.

Carl gave me a gentle hug and whispered soft enough to where I could only hear. "Are you healed?" When he pulled back, I simply winked at him with a grin.

Carol was next. Hugging me ever-so-gently, she lingered there until she kissed my forehead. "Honey, what happened out there?"

"I-" I didn't know where to start "Shane and I got into it over me hitting him earlier, and then he started getting personal with me, so I tackled him and then, I guess I got shot."

"Daryl thought you were a walker, Anna." Carol said, almost in tears. "If Carl hadn't messed up his shot, you'd be dead."

_That's what you think._ "Can I talk to Daryl alone for a minute?" Carol nodded and led Carl out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Daryl moved closer to the bed and dropped to his knees. "You're an idiot." I shook my head at him. "You thought I was a walker? Really? What made you think that?"

Daryl just looked at the ground, as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "You looked like you were gonna bite him." _Good eye, genius._

"I'm not mad, you know. I probably would have done the same thing. You were just protecting the group, that's all." I looked at him with a look of gratitude, something that, I could tell, he didn't get a lot of these days. "Thanks for not killing me, Daryl." For some reason, I loved the way his name fell from my lips.

"It ain't no problem. 'Sides, it ain't me you should be thankin'. Carl, he came up beside me, pushed my arm and fucked up my shot. It's his fault that you're still alive."

I snorted at his comment. "Gee, Daryl. You make it sound like it's a bad thing that I still here. Damn, am I that bad of a person?"

"No!" he said in a rush. "I didn't mean it like that, damn it. I just- Ah, hell. What I'm sayin' is, is thatcha ain't bad."

I giggled in a way that I immediately hated afterwards. "You're too cute, Daryl." _What the fuck was that?_

"I been called a lot of things, little girl, but cute ain't one of 'em."

"Don't get used to it, dude. And that 'little girl' stuff has got to go. If I can take Shane, I could take you just the same."

"When you get outta bed, we'll put that to the test." he paused, then looked at me strangely. "What really happened out there? Dickhead's been actin' weird and he won't say shit. By what you're tellin' everybody, it ain't right for him to keep it quiet. I know somethin' else happened."

"Maybe he's ashamed to have been beaten by a girl." I shrugged with a fake pained face. "I used to think he was all nice and junk, but I guess some things are better left hidden."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We all have secrets, Daryl. Some have a hidden personality, some have bigger problems."

"Secrets, huh? What's yours?"

I chuckled. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore then, would it?"

Daryl sat quiet for a second. "That kid, Carl. He knows, doesn't he?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well," he started. "It's just the way that you two look at each other, and he struts around here like 'I know somethin' y'all don't know'."

"What a very nice eye you have, Mister Dixon." I smirked. "Now, can you go get Carol? I have to pee, and I doubt very seriously that you'd help me to the bathroom."

Daryl rolled his eyes, then got up to go get Carol. I couldn't help but stare at his backside as he walked. Even though his pants were kind of baggy, it was a very nice view. I had completed the first step in befriending that man: engaging in conversation with Daryl Dixon. It's a work in progress, but I think I can do it.

* * *

><p>After dark, I asked Hershel if I could go outside. He only told me to be careful, and to not step on anyone who might be sleeping downstairs. They had all moved into Hershel's house since it was getting into the fall weather. So I took precaution as I crept down the stairs and through the living room. When I passed everybody's sleeping bodies, I noticed that their heartbeats were slow and steady, all except for one, which fluttered softly. It was then that I discovered that Lori was pregnant.<p>

I was happy that I didn't have to raise a baby in this world that we lived in. After all, I wasn't planning on getting pregnant anytime soon, but then again, who actually planned on pregnancy anymore?

I looked up at the sky, and my instincts told me what I had been dreading most. Six more days, and I would become the monster that killed everything in its path, and nothing was an exception.


	11. Full Moons And Walkers Don't Mix

It's the day of the full moon, and things were already starting to go down shit street. I'd twisted my ankle twice, ran into Daryl three times, dropped my food once and I've been receiving devious looks from Shane since I got up this morning. This wasn't normal for me. I was usually sharper than this, but Shane's threat had me worried to the bone.

Daryl found it funny that I was messing up all day. He'd even told me to stay close to him so I wouldn't become walker bait since I was bound to trip while I was running. "Ha ha." I told him. "You're fucking hilarious." He just smirked and strutted away, purposely shaking his ass in a girly way. I shook my head and followed him to his small camp that he had set up. He was secluded from everybody else, which I kind of liked. That way no one could interrupt our conversation.

"So, can you teach me how to use that?" I asked as I pointed at the crossbow.

He looked at me strangly. "You sure you're up for that? It's a heavy piece." I nodded, sure that my strength could hold it up. "Alright then. We'll hit trees as targets."

I smiled softly. "Thanks." I stood up from the small log that I was sitting on, then followed Daryl into the trees. We didn't walk for more than two minutes before he stopped. "So," I started. "What's the rules with this thing?"

"Well, you hold it like a shotgun, really." He explained as he handed it to me. I held it like he instructed. It was kind of heavy, like he said it would be, but I held it up just fine. "Damn, you're strong for a little girl."

"What did I say about the 'little girl' stuff?" I giggled. "Now, help me, damn it."

He pressed his chest against my back to help me position my arms the right way. I could feel his heartbeat through our shirts, and his scent was sensually overpowering. His chest moved with every breath he took. "Uh, okay. You hold it up, like this, and then you pull the trigger." When the arrow released, I was pushed back into him a little bit. "Nice shot." he complamented. I had hit my target, but it was slightly askew.

"Thanks." I said, but I wasn't paying attention to how well that I had shot, I was focussing on how close his lips were to mine. My inner animal began to bug me. _Lean in. Come on, Anna, you know you want him. You want him to kiss you, to touch you. You want him to pound you until your screams attract walkers from miles around._ They were right. That's exactly what I wanted him to do, but I didn't want to risk anything at the moment. _What the hell. Just one little kiss._ "Hey Daryl?" I whispered.

"Hmm?" he raised his eyebrows.

I noticed that his eyes were pools of blue that seemed so deep that I could have possibly drowned in them if I stared too long. "Can I, uh, do something?"

"What's that?"

I closed the space between us. My eyes closed and my hands let go of the crossbow. It landed on the ground with a soft 'thud'. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he leaned more into me. His hands traveled up my side, one landing on the small of my back, and the other cupping my cheek, deepening the kiss. I tangled my fingers in his messy hair. I smelled his arousal before I felt it. His hand on my back pulled me closer to him, making me moan into his mouth, his grip tightening on me.

I was so caught up in his kiss that I didn't notice anyone walk up behind us. "You know, Dixon, I'd be inclined to throw your ass in jail if I caught you doin' this six weeks ago."

"Don't you have something better to do, Shane? And if I'm correct, you wanted me last week. So do Daryl and I a favor, and get the fuck out of here." I was beyond pissed at this moment. Daryl was looking at me with shock. Shit. He didn't know about what happened between Shane and I.

"Actually, I wanna talk to you for a minute." He looked at Daryl as if to say 'go away'.

"No. Daryl stays."

"I don't think you want him to hear this, darlin'."

"Stop fucking calling me that." I kept a hold on Daryl's hand, waiting for Shane to say the wrong thing.

"I wanna know when you're leavin'."

"Tonight?" Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

"Yes."

"Before dark, and no, you can't go." I could just feel Daryl's eyes on me, silently asking questions with his gaze. "Why?"

"And you'll be back 'round mornin'." He smirked. "I was just wantin' to know. Gives me time to... think about things."

"Shane, you better keep your nose out of my buisness. People get hurt that way, you know." Daryl's grip tightened on my hand, as if he was holding me back. "Keep your distance, Walsh. You'll regret it if you don't."

"Is that a threat, darlin'?"

"No, it's a fucking promise." And with that, I picked up Daryl's crossbow and left Shane behind. Daryl stood rooted to the spot that I was previously standing, glaring daggers at Shane. "You coming, Daryl?"

* * *

><p>After we got back to the house, I took a small nap. I was awakened by people yelling, mostly Lori, about Carl and Rick. I walked to the front porch and saw what they were yelling about. A huge herd of walkers were making their way to the house, and Carl and Rick were running towards the barn. I ran out to them, ignoring Daryl's and Glenn's protests. It was then that I made the biggest mistake of my life. The moonlight shone down on me, covering me with a flourescent blue light. Pain flared through my body as my bones started to take a new shape, I started to scream and I fell to the ground.<p>

I was fucked.


	12. Don't Leave Me

_Fire. Walkers_. I ran towards the undead beings that threatened the humans. Were they my friends? My enemies? I didn't know or care. One of them stared at me while the others ran. Did she know me? With her short hair and soft face, she looked vaguely familiar. There was a walker behind her. Walker? Where did that word come from? Is that what they are called? _Carol_. Is that her name? How does she know me? I killed the thing behind her and sat so she could climb on my back. I trusted her for some reason. She gave off a vibe that I'd felt before. I licked her hand. _Blood_. She took the hint and climbed on, latching her fingers around my fur, holding it tight. I ran towards a man that seemed familiar. _Daryl._ Where were these names coming from? She climbed off of my back. "Thank you, Anna." Anna? Was that my name? The one called Daryl looked at me, not a hint of surprise on his face. He was holding something that could hurt me. I turned and ran into a large group of 'walkers'. I started tearing into them, one by one. They all dropped. I stood and howled in victory, attracting others.

_Daryl_. Something inside me told me that I should let him know that everything was okay. I ran back to him, just as he and the one named Carol were pulling off on a two wheeled vehicle. I pushed into his mind, what we wolves call Probing. _Daryl, Carol. I will find you. I promise. Don't give up on me. _They both looked back at me. I couldn't identify the looks on their faces, but I knew they had heard me. _Walkers. Carl. Rick. Barn_. I looked around. 'Walkers' were running away from me. A small human boy was running to a vehicle with two older men. A barn was on fire, falling to ashes. I even felt the heat from a safe distance. Every person that left exchanged a look in my direction. Some were scared. Some weren't. I went back to killing the threats. Rotten blood spilled on my fur. I was careful not to bite for a reason unknown. I knew that I shouldn't.

After hours of ripping the undead to shreds, the field was empty of walking bodies. I ran towards where Daryl went. Something told me to follow him, to find him. Something inside me _wanted_ him. I followed a scent that was him.

_Run. Run faster. Find him. You want him_._ Find them all_. I could feel the moon being replaced by the sun as I ran in the direction the scent was taking me. I followed it until I saw three different vehicles and a two wheeled vehicle stopped on the pavement. I recognized Daryl's and the one that the boy and two older men left in. I limped towards a fire that was started in a pit. My paws crunched in the leaves and their heads turned towards me. _Shock_. The sun shone through the trees. _Pain. Burning pain. _I felt my body change. I let out a broken howl and I was a predator no more.

* * *

><p>The sun was bright in my eyes, blinding me as I curled up into a ball. I moaned from my pained muscles. I was sitting in the leaves and grass, naked, surrounded by people. <em>Oh no<em>. I looked at them all, staring at me, keeping a safe distance. The only one who stepped up to me was Carol. Weren't't there more people last night? Andrea was missing. _Oh God_. I started crying. Tears burned my eyes then slid down my cheeks. I was scared to ask what happened last night. Fire. Walkers. Small memories flashed in my head.

"Anna?" Carol's soft voice corrupted the silence. "Honey, are you okay? Andrea ran into the woods."

She reached her hand out to touch me, and I flinched away. I couldn't look at anyone in the face. I took a deep breath. "Of course I'm not okay, Carol. I have nowhere to go. I'm lucky that you all are alive right now." I said through tears. "Where's Andrea?"I closed my eyes and felt myself being picked up. I opened my eyes to find Daryl cradling me in his arms.

"She ran off into the woods. You didn't do anything to 'er. Promise." He whispered in my ear.

"Where are you taking her?" Lori asked.

"I'mma put some damn clothes on her, if you don't mind. 'Less you want her runnin' 'round here naked." He glared at Shane, who sat next to the fire staring at me. I could feel the anger building up in his chest as he growled inwardly, as if claiming me.

Lori kept up the argument. "She's dangerous, Daryl."

"So am I." he spat as he pulled me closer to him. "Why don't y'all just leave her alone?"

"Why are you risking all of us by not making her leave?"

"Why are you not yellin' at your husband for riskin' us with what that crazy ass scientist said?"

"God damn it, Lori." Rick spoke up. "Can't you see she's in pain right now? Leave her alone, and in the meantime, we'll talk about whether she stays or goes."

"You're defending her? After she went out in the woods with our son being what she is?"

"She saved my life!" Carl yelled at his mother. "A lot of times!"

"And mine." Carol pointed out. "Back at the farm, she killed walkers and carried me to Daryl. She's not dangerous to us, Lori."

"I like what she is, mom!"

"Be quiet, Carl."

"You knew, too?" Hershal cut it, which surprised me.

"Well, yeah! I kind of walked in on her." Carl said quietly. "She's not dangerous! You don't know her like I do! She'd do anything to save our lives. She did last night!"

I couldn't take it anymore. Daryl tossed me some boxer shorts and a cut off shirt. I rolled up the boxers until they came to mid thigh on me, and I buttoned up the shirt and walked up to Lori. She was yelling at Carol about how dangerous I could be if I lost control. "Don't yell at Carol like that!" I got up in her face, despite the pain that I was in. "You have no right to say who goes and who stays. You're completely useless in this group! You don't do anything, you complain all the fucking time. I'm done with it. If that's what you want, I'll fucking leave!" If I was going to leave, I was going to tell her how I really felt about her. "God, you know what, Lori? You piss me the fuck off. First, you basically call me a slut because I took off my shirt to prove that I wasn't bitten. I saved your son's life, and you show no gratitude whatsoever. You cheat on your husband, with whom you have a ten year old child, with his best friend when you thought he was dead! Is there anything else you want me to cover? Who's baby are you having? You know what, don't tell me. It's not my business if I'm leaving." Then, I walked away towards Daryl's bike in search of pants. Carol stopped me.

"Anna?" I turned around at the sound of my name. "Thanks for defending me."

"Don't worry about it." I shrugged it off. "You would've done the same for me. By the way, do you have any pants? I have a feeling that I would fit yours better than Daryl's." I giggled and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, hold on and let me look." She turned around and left me alone.

Daryl jogged up to me, a look of worry on his face. "Anna? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, Daryl. What do you need?"

"Well," he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Was Daryl Dixon nervous? Since when? "I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave either, Daryl. But I think it's probably best for everyone."

"What about me? What about Carol? Carl? You think that we don't matter?" His voice was raising. "You've changed Carol for the better. After..." He took a deep breath. "After Sophia, she didn't do nothin' but sit 'round and feel sorry for herself. Carl, he didn't do nothin' but get in people's business and sulk 'round. Now look at 'em. Look at me. You can't just leave after what happened yesterday. Damn it, Anna. I want you to stay." I felt a tear fall down my face as I pulled him into a hug. I loved the way that I fit in his arms. Then he whispered something in my ear that I thought I'd never hear from him. "Please, Anna. Don't leave me."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I apologize for the broken thought in the werewolf point of view. AND I loved the ending of this chapter. I know that Daryl is kind of OOC, but I liked it that way :) What did you guys think of how Anna reacted to Lori yelling at Carol? What about Daryl's reaction to Shane? DOOD. I want reviews! I WANT 'EM ALL! :D<strong>


	13. Take A Vote

I hadn't cried as much as I had in the past twenty minutes in my entire life. I felt like I was losing an entire family as I sat and waited for them do decide my fate. I had dried up my tears so I could calm down. They had placed me by the cars while they sat around our new camp. Glenn was with Carl and me to make sure that we didn't listen in on their little meeting. Glenn had been quiet, I guessed because we had never exchanged but small 'hellos' to each other in the month that I'd been with the group. What was he supposed to say? 'Hey, so you're a werewolf'? Yeah, that was a great way to start a first official conversation.

Carl was playing with his shoes, so I started the conversation with Glenn. "So, you and Maggie, huh?"

He nervously cleared his throat. "Yeah. I told her that I love her for the first time this morning. It was hard, but I had to. You never know when you'll never see that person again, you know?" His eyes widened as he realized what he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"No, don't worry about it. It's true." I sighed. "Who knows when or if I'll see you guys again. It's probably best for everyone, you know?" Then an idea struck me. "Hey, you want to go listen in?"

"Yeah, let's go." Carl agreed.

"You're not supposed to. That's why I'm here."

"But aren't you mad that you're missing out?"

He sighed. "Fine, but if we get in trouble, I'm blaming you."

I laughed. "Yeah, blame the werewolf. That'll get you out of trouble." I joked. It was different saying it to someone else. "Sorry. It's just… Comforting to say it out loud, you know?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I wish that I could say that I know what you mean." He then got to his feet and followed me towards a spot where we could safely sit and listen to what everybody was saying. They were a good twenty minutes into the conversation when we showed up, but Lori was the only one standing.

"Do you not see what's happening here?" she said. "We have a damned werewolf around us. She's a danger to all of us."

"I think she knows her lines." T-Dog said. "Do you really think she would've stayed if she thought she would hurt us?"

"Maybe she didn't care? She tried to kill Shane. You think she'd try to kill you, too?"

"Shane attacked first." Carol defended. "Like he told us, he said stuff to her that was a little to personal to get under her skin. Even she said so; she just left what he actually said out."

"What are they saying?" Glenn asked from beside me.

"They're arguing about how much of a danger that I am to you all."

Maggie then spoke up. "What about on full moons like last night? What if there aren't any walkers nearby? What if she kills us instead?"

"Can't we just take her a few miles out the other way when that happens?" Rick asked.

"And what if she finds us?" Shane cut in. "She's got a nose that can smell a mile away. She can hear from way far out, even as a human. She can probably hear what we're sayin' now. We're already runnin' from walkers. We don't need to run from her, too."

"See?" Lori said. "Shane has a point."

"You would agree with him." Daryl mumbled.

"What did you say?" Shane growled.

Daryl stood up. "I said that she _would_ agree with your dumb ass. Did you not see what Anna did out there?"

"She killed almost every walker that we didn't get." T-Dog pointed out. "She was amazing out there, saving Carol's life like she did. Anna didn't even try to get one of us. It's almost as if she knew that we weren't her enemies."

"He's right." Daryl agreed. "She's good for this damned group. She can help us find Andrea with the trackin' skills she's got."

"We all know why you want her to stay."

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked with curiosity.

"I walked up on 'em swallowin' each other yesterday. Redneck just wants to get his dick wet."

"Really? You kissed him?" Carl asked in a whisper. My response was a soft smack to the back of his head and a smirk.

"She's sixteen, Daryl." Lori accused.

"So? Ain't no better than you fuckin' him when you're married." When no one else said anything, Daryl continued as Glenn, Carl and I watched from a distance. "Look, so what if I like 'er? It ain't none of y'all's business anyhow. What're you gonna do? Throw me in a jail cell? I hate to tell y'all, but if she leaves, I leave, too."

I gasped in surprise. Daryl wanted to leave with me?

"Daryl," Carol tried to reason with him, but she knew she lost the argument even before she started. Then she huffed. "I will, too. She saved my life and I trust her."

"I trust her, too." T-Dog said. "We should count ourselves lucky. She protected us like we were her own family."

"Well," Rick started. "What do you think, Hershel?"

The older man sighed. "I already knew when she was shot. She had healed quickly, and she said it was something that she wanted to keep from everyone. She didn't want to worry anyone. If she cares about us enough to do that, my vote is that she stays. She could protect us in these woods, since we don't have my farm anymore." His voice broke when he mentioned his previous home.

"She could help hunt, too." Rick suggested.

"What if she gets infected?" Shane asked. "We'll have a werewolf walker on our hands. I don't think that it would be pretty."

"You ain't pretty either, but you don't hear us complainin'." I had to giggle at Daryl's comment.

"Alright." Rick stood. "Who votes that she leaves?" I watched as Lori, Shane and Maggie raised their hands. I could hear Glenn's heartbeat speed up a tad bit when he saw what his girlfriend was agreeing with. "Who says she stays?" I smiled as T-Dog, Carol, Rick, Hershel, and Daryl raised their hands.

"We vote for you, too, Anna." Carl whispered.

"Yeah." Glenn smiled.

"Okay then, it's settled." Rick said with a smile. "Anna stays."


	14. High School All Over Again

"Oh shit." Glenn whispered. "We have to get back to the road."

"Right." I said and motioned for Carl to get on my back. "Say you were taking a piss."

Glenn looked at me with a puzzled look. "What?" But I was already running before he had the chance to open his mouth. I dropped Carl as soon as we got back to the cars, fighting the urge to jump up and down in celebration. I lay down on the hood of the blue truck, wondering what would happen between me and Daryl, as Rick's boots thudded on the pavement towards us.

"So." I said nonchalantly. "How did it go?" Glenn appeared up by Rick's side as I asked.

"A lot better than I expected." he replied. Then, he turned towards his son. "Carl, go on back to your momma. I wanna talk to Anna alone for a minute. Take Glenn with you." Carl nodded and waved to me with a smile. When he and Glenn were out of sight, Rick turned back to me. "Anna, I..."

"I heard what you said." I smiled. "Thanks for sticking up for me, Rick."

"It wasn't anything special." He blushed. "I do have one question, though."

"What's up?"

"Why Daryl?"

I laughed a little. "What do you mean, 'why Daryl'? He's a great guy. He's tough, rugged, and..." I emphasized the 'and' for dramatic effect. "He's sweet if you play your cards right." I paused. "I know he's older than me, Rick, but I don't think stuff like that matters anymore. If wanting to be with him is wrong, then call me a rebel. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that he wants me back."

Rick sighed. "I don't want you getting hurt, Anna. If he does that to you..."

I put my hand on his arm. "Don't worry, Rick. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. If someone hurts me, I turn into a bitch... Literally."

He chuckled warmly. "Damn. That's gonna take some getting used to. Were you a, uh, werewolf when we...?"

"Yes. Now, go on. Try to mend things with Lori. Lord knows that you need to." I gave him a quick hug and sent him on his way. "Okay." I said out loud once I was alone... Sort of. "You can come out, now, Daryl." I smiled as he retreated from his hiding spot behind a tree. "Yes?"

"I just heard you talkin' to Rick. Figured you'd hear me shufflin' 'round." A smirk was curving his smile and all I wanted to do was kiss those lips.

"You know what you get for eavesdropping?" He shook his head. "Come here and I'll tell you."

He walked up to me and put his face close to mine. "What? You gonna get all wolfy on me?" The grin on his face was huge.

"Nope." I slid off of the hood and brushed myself against him. "I'm going to smack that ass." My quick reflexes allowed me to smack him hard on his jean clad buttocks before running around the truck, away from him. By the time I'd reached the tailgate of the truck, he'd caught up to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You ain't goin' nowhere." He said huskily in my ear. I turned to face him and he picked me up to sit me on the tailgate. His lips brushed against mine in a mild kiss. "I wanna ask you somethin'. Are these the jeans that you were wearin' when you came into the group?"

I giggled. "Why yes, Mister Dixon, they are. How did you know?"

"This specific pair was what you were wearin' when I looked at your ass for the first time. Damn. It was when you bent over to sit down with Carol when you was paintin' them nails. Mhmm."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his response. "Daryl?"

"Hmm?"

"Were you serious about earlier? About when you said that it was none of their business if you liked me or not?"

"Yeah, Anna, I did." His eyes met mine and I knew that he was telling the truth without listening to his heartbeat. "Look, I ain't done this relationship thing since high school, but I'll give it a shot if you wanna."

"Is that the Daryl Dixon way of asking a girl out?" I chuckled.

"If you don't like it, take a hike."

I laughed. "Well, it just so happens that I left my hiking boots back at my old house in Buford."

"That where you lived before all this happened?" I nodded. "Little town for a little girl."

"Daryl." I sighed. "What did I tell you last time about the little girl stuff? Oh yeah, this." I suddenly tackled him to the ground and straddled him, holding his hands above his head. "Told you that I could take you." I smirked and accidentally let my guard down. That was a mistake, because he flipped us over to where he was on top of me, my legs wrapped around his waist and my arms above my head.

"What was that 'bout takin' me?" God, he looked so sexy with that glint in his eye. I tried to pull up and kiss him, but he held me down and just curved his lips into that famous fucking smirk. "Oh, now you wanna kiss me? Ask nice and maybe you'll get watcha want."

"Ha!" I said with sarcasm. "No." And then I used my strength to roll us back over and kissed him with a bruising force. He rolled us again and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I didn't know what it was about that kiss, but it awakened something inside us both. It was explosive, like fireworks at a gas plant. We were tangling with each other, running our hands through each other's hair. He was biting my lips, I was being submissive. His hands roamed my body, leaving trails of heat where his fingers grazed my skin. I wanted him, and telling by the growing need in his jeans, he wanted me. There was something about the scent of his arousal. Something was off, but not in a bad way. As we kissed, he made no movement or attempt at my breasts or my pants, he only kissed me. "Daryl…" I said as he moved his lips to my neck. "Are you-"

"Hey, Anna, I- Woah!" Glenn yelled out in surprise when he walked up and found Daryl and I in our intimacy.

"Are you serious?" I huffed. Was there ever going to be a time when I could kiss Daryl without getting walked up on? "Again?"

"Oh, uh." Glenn tried to say something, but he seemed to stumble over his words. "I'll just, uh, go."

"Nah." Daryl got up off of me. "I gotta go huntin' anyway." Then he whispered in my ear. "I ain't done with you yet. We'll finish later."

"Trust me, baby." I said seductively. "Later can't come fast enough."

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><p><strong>:D I liked this one, and coming from the author, that means this one's my favorite so far :) I love this Danna pairing and I can't wait to write the ending to this, which is FAR AWAY. :D<strong>


	15. Someone's Getting Ballsy

Almost everyone avoided me while Daryl was gone, except for Rick, Glenn and Hershel. Carl was being held back from talking to me by his mother, who never failed to give me rotten looks every time she looked in my direction. I figured that I should get used to it since her feelings didn't change for me before my secret got out, why should they change now? I'd even caught her whispering to Shane about me, and I chuckled as I listened to their conversation.

"You can hear us, can't you?" Shane said in a whisper to where only Lori, with me as an exception, could hear.

I nodded with pursed lips. "Yeah." I was sitting next to the fire with Glenn, to Maggie's dismay, and Hershel, who were both asking questions about my condition. Surprisingly, Hershel already knew some of the answers. Turns out, his sister dated a were back in high school and he'd gotten himself in a friendship with him before his friend had told him about it.

"So, is that why you didn't freak out when I had healed?" I asked him after the deal with Shane and Lori.

"Pretty much." He said. "I haven't met one of your kind since then. Well, that I know of anyway."

Glenn looked at me. "Are there others like you?"

"No." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I got bit by a tree and mysteriously became a werewolf."

He sighed at his vocal mistake. "I meant, have you met any more since the apocalypse started?"

I shook my head. "No. Honestly, Shane was the first person I'd seen since this shitstorm started."

"What about memories? Do you remember anything when you wake up the next morning?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes, but not always. I guess it depends."

"On what?" Hershel asked.

"On what happened while I was turned. For example: last night, a bunch of walkers invaded your farm, the barn caught fire, and that's all I remember. I also know that I somehow knew that you weren't my enemies. Usually, I go for anything that seems like a threat, and you guys had guns on you. I just don't know..."

"Carol told us that you spoke to her in her and Daryl's heads. How did you do that?" Glenn said.

"It's called probing. Usually, werewolves do it to talk to other weres during the full moon phase, but I guess I needed to say something to them. What did I say?"

"Don't know." Hershel shrugged. "You'll have to ask her. She didn't tell us."

"Then ask her, I shall." I got up and walked to the tent that Carol would be sleeping in. The zipper was open, revealing her sitting cross-legged on a blanket with her bag sitting next to her. She was fiddling with her thumbs when I stuck my head into her tent. "Carol? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Anna." She said with a soft smile.

"What did I say to you and Daryl last night?"

"Well," she paused to think. "You said that you would find us and asked us not to give up on you."

"Really?" I asked. "Wow."

"Yeah." She chuckled. "It scared me at first because I didn't recognize your voice, but then I realized it was you and I felt... Safe."

"What do you mean, 'safe'? I could have ripped your head off, Carol. I'm a... I'm a monster. A predator." I didn't realized I was crying until Carol hugged me. "I hunt and kill for a living, I eat raw animals, I howl at the fucking moon. I've gone about ten years without anyone knowing about it, and now a whole group of people know about me. Lori and Shane are right. I shouldn't even be here." I got up to leave, but Carol held my arm.

"Anna, I never thought I'd say this to someone, but you need to sit the hell down, and shut up. I can't believe that you think Lori and Shane's opinions matter in this situation. You are who you are, and you shouldn't want anyone to change you. You have become a daughter to me. Not a replacement for Sophia, but a daughter just the same. You don't know what you're talking about when you say you're a monster. So what if you howl at the moon once a month. Girls get their periods for a week every month, and that doesn't change anything. And at least you don't eat humans, and even if you did, I'd still love you just the same." She paused and put her hand on my face to make me look in her eyes. "I think Daryl would, too. Don't think about Lori and Shane. Think about me, Daryl, Carl, Glenn and even Hershel. Even Rick defended your honor, and I know Dale would have as well. I know for a fact that Sophia would have absolutely loved you."

I could feel the tears flowing down my cheeks. Damn, when did Carol grow a set? "I can't believe you just compared my situation to a period." I chuckled lightly and hugged her tightly. "You know, you feel like a mother to me, too. Thanks for everything, Carol." Then, I stepped out of her tent with a smile as I wiped my tears off of my face. I walked behind the four separated stone walls that surrounded our little camp that we had set up. I walked for about a minute and stood in front of the small waterfall that was set up by the camp. It was almost peaceful... Until Shane walked up behind me. I hung my head in annoyance. Would he ever just leave me alone? "What do you want?"

"I wanna talk to you."

"Haven't you already said enough?" I said, referring to what he said at the meeting and to Lori.

"Actually, I wanna ask you a quick question, if that's alright with you. You know what? It's really a demand."

"And what the fuck would you want from me? I'm not going to have sex with you, if that's what you want."

"Oh, no. It ain't got nothin' to do with that, though I wouldn't mind." He winked at me and I was instantly disgusted. "Actually, I'm gonna tell you to do somethin', and you're gonna do what I say."

I cocked my hip. "And what exactly am I going to do, Walsh?"

He grinned in a way that could be classified at scary. He took a step towards me and I took one backwards, almost afraid of having him close to me. "You're gonna give me the bite."

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><p><strong>OH MY GOD CAROL GREW BALLS xD And SHANE? What the fuckin' hell? Deeehhhuuuummm. I wonder how Anna's going to react to his little demand. I know, I know, there was no Daryl in this chapter, but the next chapter is PURE DANNA :D YUSH!<strong>


	16. A 'Don't Fret' Letter

**Dear Readers,**

**Okay, so my Spring Break is this week, so I'm not going to update until I get back from California, but I'm going to write.. ALOT. DO NOT WORRY! **_**Nowhere To Hide **_**and **_**Prison Break**_** are NOT ON HAITUS! I just didn't want you guys to fret :D I love you guys and THANK YOU SO MUCH for your reviews! You inspire me to write more! Thanks to: GypsyWitchBaby, Alina Maxwell, Day-Of-The-Dead-TattooGal, tortue0711, 0netflixme0, RupturedRose, VileMalapert, dark-lelu, tknoir1101, Raging Raven, nekuranekomegami, Lady Minuialwen, and of course, the lovely, lovely Pein's Kid. :D I don't know if I got all the reviewers, but those are the ones who do it the most (heart goes here). AND.. As a gift from my awesome father, he got me a ticket to go to the Fright Night Film Festival in Louisville, KY JUST SO I COULD GO SEE NORMAN REEDUS AND MADISON LINTZ xD. GOD I love my Dad.**

**Sincerely, KayyeLovesHerSomeReedus.**


	17. Threats and Scents

**HELLO READ****ERS! I'm back! I know it took me FOREVER, but I got a lot of writing done :D**

* * *

><p>Daryl finally came back when the moon was at it's highest, dragging a huge eight-point buck behind him. I was sitting by the fire by myself while everyone else was asleep in their tents. I assured Rick that I would keep watch while I waited for Daryl. I didn't tell him what Shane had said, but I was going to lose sleep over it for sure.<p>

"_You're gonna give me the bite."_

_I stood there in shock. He wanted me to do what? "I…" No one had ever said that to me before, so I didn't know how to react. "Why?" I asked in a whisper._

_"I want more power." He said. "You can do whatever you want, whenever you want. I'm sick of bein' pushed 'round in this damned group."_

_"Shane," I sighed and hung my head. "This isn't something that I'd wish on someone! You don't understand; it's more complicated than it sounds." He took a step towards me, grazing his built body against mine. "And besides," I stood my ground. "I wouldn't be able to do it anyway."_

_"And why the hell not?"_

_"Only an alpha can give the bite. I'm only a beta."_

_He sighed, looking annoyed. "How do you get to be an alpha?"_

_"I have to kill one, an alpha, to become one."_

_"Well, you better find one soon, and kill it." He said into my ear. "Because if I don't get what I want, you'd better start learnin' to sleep with one eye open. Dixon, too. There's more than one way to kill a werewolf, darlin', and I won't hesitate to try 'em all out." He turned and stalked away from me, leaving me with a silent tear making it's way down my face. What the fuck was I going to do?_

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped my head around to find Daryl, looking tired as hell. "Jesus, Daryl. You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry." He said as he sat down next to me. "Didn't think you'd wait up for me."

I chuckled. "Well, I'm actually waiting to see if you keep to what you say."

"Oh really?" He smirked, then leaned in to kiss my neck, leaving wet kisses and humming vibrations onto my sensitive spot.

"Damn, Daryl." I moaned softly. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap, his thumb rubbing circles on my lower back. That scent was back again, and this time, it was stronger. "Daryl?" He only response was a 'mhmm', so I asked what was on my mind. "Are you a, uh, virgin?"

He stopped completely. His kisses stopped, his thumb circles stopped, his breathing stopped, his heart even stopped for a fraction of a second. "How can you tell?"

I swallowed. "The scent of your arousal. I can tell you've ejaculated before, but you've never been inside a woman."

He raised an eyebrow. "You can smell that?" I nodded. "Well, damn. What else can you smell?"

"Well," I leaned in to smell him, taking a long drag of his scent into my nostrils, my nose grazing his skin. "Your perspiration has a specific musky smell that mixes with a masculine pine-slash-sandlewood scent." I whispered as I felt him slightly shiver from under me. "Blood. There's definately blood here, and kerosene, oddly enough."

"Burnin' them damned walkers, but that was last month." I shrugged my shoulders with a small smile. "Is it sad that I think I love you?"

"Why would that be sad?" I asked. "And what would cause you to love me?"

"You're different in more than one good way. You're a woman who ain't afraid to get dirt under her nails after she paints 'em. You don't care 'bout what people say 'boutcha, and you ain't afraid to say what's on your mind. And the best thing 'bout you? You could kick anybody's ass with your hands tied behind your back." His rough, calloused fingers stroked my face. "That smile, that beautiful blonde hair, and them eyes, but damn, that ass out ranks everything." I laughed with him as I playfully smacked his shoulder.

"I'm glad you like it, but we've only been 'together'," I used air quotes on that last word, "for a day, and you're saying all this."

"This ain't the only day that I been payin' attention to you, though. Think 'bout that." I blushed as his words and leaned in to kiss him. He kissed me back passionatly, his hands on my hips, his velvet tongue battling mine. His fingers started playing with the hem line of my shirt, and I finally realized how cold it actually was outside when he slipped it over my head.

I sighed, cuddling myself in Daryl's arms. "This may come out more horrible than I intend it to, but I don't want to do this right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, your first time should be special, you know? Not in forty degree weather, outside where anyone can look out of their tent to see us." Which brought another question to my head. "How the hell did everyone get tents, anyways?"

He chuckled. "We made a stop at Bass Pro before Rick ran out of gas."

"Ah." I nodded.

"And Anna?"

"Hm?" I loved the way my name rolled off of his tongue.

"It don't matter where it's at. By the fire, on the ground, in a tent, on a bed, or under a damned tree in whatever weather, it'll always be special with you." He got up, slidng me off of his lap, and pulled out a knife from his pocket. "Now help me gut this thing."

Maybe he was saying that to get in my pants, or maybe he wasn't. It didn't matter to me, because that was the most sweetest thing a man has ever said to me. Daryl was pulling me in like a fish on a hook, and I didn't mind at all. As a matter of fact, I liked it. For some reason, I knew Daryl was going to stay by my side for a long time, no matter what. Shane's threat had melted away as Daryl taught me how to properly skin a buck. His chest pressed against my back as heis hands worked mine. I loved the way he felt beside me, and I planned on keeping him there for a long time.

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><p><strong>Yeah, I made Daryl a virgin. The idea came off of what Norman Reedus said in almost ALL of his interviews about portraying Daryl Dixon. "I'm trying to play him like he's a total virgin," he said. "Like if someone were to try to kiss him he'd be like, 'Eeeeee.'" Damn. With Norman looking like he does, he hasn't known what virginity is for a LONG TIME. Anyway, how about Shane's request, eh? You think she find a way to get out of it? And another thing, why hasn't Daryl mentioned the other infamous Dixon to Anna? You think they'll discover the mysterious prison soon? Questions, questions, questions! Reviews are good, too. :D Hope you enjoyed this one!<br>**


	18. Stranger Too Close To Home

I woke up the next morning with Daryl's jacket draped over me. I smiled because it smelled just like him, who was still asleep with his arm draped over me protectivly. I sighed as I realized that today was another day of dealing with Shane, another day of being ignored, another day of being talked about. Atleast it was another day alive, and it was another day with Daryl.

My ears snapped to attention as I heard the soft rustling of dew covered leaves around our camp. I slowly slipped Daryl's arm from around me and quietly unzipped the tent a little to peak out. A man's back was to me. He was wearing a ripped, dirty teeshirt under a leather vest, cargo pants and boots. He held a large automatic weapon that I couldn't identify in his left hand, the butt of the rifle tilting up. The thing that caught my attention, thought, was that his right hand was missing.

I crept out of the tent. "Great. It's you." He turned around and raised his weapon to me. He opened his mouth to speak, and I knocked his gun to the ground. With a loud cry, he tackled me to the leaves below us. My head hit the ground and I almost saw stars. I pulled my knee to his gut, making him roll off of me with an 'oomph'. I gout up and went to grab his rifle before I felt him yank my hair, pain radiating through my skull.

"You ain't goin' nowhere, bitch." he said as he spun me around and landed a punch to my nose. I gasped and cried out as blood flooded my mouth, but I wasn't quitting. I retaliated and swung the back of my closed fist to his jaw. He stumbled backwards and I kicked his gut as hard as I could. He yelled out and tackled me again, this teime with more force. My breath was knocked out of me twice, once when his body hit me, and the second time when we hit the ground. I elbowed the back of his neck with all the strength I could muster, even if I couldn't breath. He punched my side twice, shooting pain through my ribs. I did the same, hearing him cry out and a sickening crack as a result. He punched my jaw, breaking it with one swing. I turned us over and started punching his face like crazy. Five times, ten, I lost count as I was pulled off of him by two sets of arms, one around my waist and another around my chest.

I spit blood, struggling to be let go. "Anna." Daryl said in my ear. "Stop." The anger that boiled inside me suddenly subsided when his stubble rubbed against my bruised and broken face. Shane and T-Dog were holding the other guy back, so I guessed Rick was helping Daryl with me. I could hear Daryl's heartbeat speed up as he looked at my opponent. "Merle?"

"You know this guy?" I asked through clenched teeth.

Merle laughed. "Ah hell, I'd figured you were dead, baby brother."

Oh _hell _no. "Brother?" I turned to face him. "You didn't tell me you had a brother." I said as I fixed my jaw.

He ignored my statement. "Brother my ass. Ain't like you came out lookin' for me or nothin'."

"Didn't think I needed to." He looked me up and down, the look in his eyes making me sick to my stomach. "You with her?" He asked as he pointed to Daryl's arms around my waist. "You gettin' his dick wet, sweetheart?"

My anger flared and I tried to go after him again, but Rick stepped in front of me. "Daryl, take her and help her get cleaned up. Anna, go walk it off, and have Daryl go with you."

Daryl led me past the waterfall, which led to a resovior. "I gotta piss." He said. "Don't go nowhere." He pointed a finger at me. We were well away from the campsite by now, so I nodded. When he turned around, I stripped myself and lept into the resovior. I opened my eyes underwater to see if there were any walkers under the surface. There were none that I could see, so I came up. Daryl was looking at my clothes, then he looked at me. "Are you nuts, woman? It's fuckin' freezin' out here!"

"Actually, it's surprisingly warm." I raised myself above the surface until the water reached the top of my breasts, showing their curves. "Come on in. It's walker free."

It took him less than a minute to strip and dive in. He stayed under for what seemed like forever, but grabbed my waist before coming up. I squeeled. "Daryl!" I didn't know how I didn't see him come up to me. The water was so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom, which the resovior was only about five feet deep where I was standing. The bottom of the resovior was covered in small pebbles and rocks, and the water felt like a heated pool that you find at a really nice hotel. It smelled pure, fresh, like it had never been touched, and were were invading it with our naked bodies, corrupting it somehow.

"I'm going to get you back for that." I said, and when he looked at me with confused eyes, I hopped on top of him and dunked his head under the water. When I came back up, I searched for Daryl, and was surprised when he popped up in front of me. "Damn it. How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on me like that."

He put my arms around his neck. "I used to swim in the cricks and rivers back at home and shit."

"Cricks?" I raised an eyebrow. "Great. My boyfriend is a hick."

"You like it."

"I do." I slipped my hand from around his nick, trailing it down his chest. My eyes widened as my fingers closed around his member. "My God."

"What?" He looked a little alarmed.

"I thought that it was supposed to shrink in water."

"It should've."

"It doesn't feel like it." I giggled. Then I looked into his eyes as he lifted my leg to his waist. "Are you sure? I mean, if you're not ready, I completely understand."

"Yeah, girl. I'm fuckin' positive. I ain't gonna be the next forty year old virgin." He laughed.

"How old are you, exactly?"

"I'll be thirty-five in October."

"Awesome." I smiled.

"C'mere, woman." He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me passionatly. My arms went back around his neck and he slipped his hands to my lower back, pulling me closer to him. I started kissing his jawline, nipping the skin that was there, and he growled, grabbing my ass and lifting me to wrap my legs around him. His hard member was teasing my clit, which about drove me wild.

"Daryl, we need a safety word."

"The fuck? What for?"

"You've never had sex with a werewolf. Sometimes we get, uh..." I swayed my head a little. "Rough."

"Will 'get off me you crazy bitch' work?" He grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious, Daryl. Just don't freak out, okay?" When he nodded, I asked him, "Are you ready?"

"Are you?" He didn't give me time to answer before he was pushing into me. I had never had someone so large before, and it hurt. I let out a little yelp as he groaned. He noticed the pained look on my face and water dripped from his hand as he carressed my cheek. "You alright?"

I moved his hand to my breast with lust filled eyes. It hurt, but I wanted to feel him move inside me. "Just fuck me already, Daryl." He thrust up and I cried out his name softly. I started riding him, my animalistic side starting to lose control. He was groaning, moaning, saying my name as I had him go as deep as my body would let him. I felt my orgasm building like a coil inside my abdomen. I had never had sex in the water before, but it felt amazing to me. Everytime I thrust, the rush of water hit my clit, sending waves of pleasure up my spine. As my climax grew, so did my fangs. I felt my eyes switch, and he jumped as I changed in front of him.

He kissed me hotly. It was one of those hot, open-mouthed kisses that says, 'you are fucking sexy'. I nipped his lip, accidentally drawing blood. He gave one last final thrust before I clenched around him, releasing my orgasm as I cried out his name. His came soon after, spilling himself in spurts inside me. He grunted, then moaned my name in a husky voice. I bit down on his shoulder as I rode out my climax.

"Damn girl." He breathed. "The hell was that for?"

"Sorry." I blushed as I slid off of him.

"Anna! Daryl!" We heard Rick call.

"Shit!" I said, pulling Daryl behind me as I rushed out of the water. "Come on!" I giggled, pulling clothes on my body.

"I'm goin', I'm goin'." He laughed. He'd already gotten his clothes on, how, I didn't know, and was pulling his shoes on. You'd think Daryl Dixon would wear work boots, but _no._ He wore Earth Spirit shoes, the kind you'd find at Wal-Mart. I called them Zen shoes, but that was my opinion.

I shook my head and kissed his lips. "Fucking Zen shoes."

"Shut up." He smirked. "I'm the only Zen one here, damn it."

"Okay, Mister Zen, let's go before they think we're walker bait." I said as I kissed him again.

"Race you back to camp." He said before slapping my ass and he took off running.

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><p><strong>HAHA! He's not a virgin no more! And I admit, I've never had sex in water before, so forgive me if the description is a little off kilter. I honestly thing that <em>any<em> sex with Daryl Dixon would be hot, description or none. :D Reviews, reviews, reviews! P.S. What did you think about the return of the infamous Merle Dixon? I gotta say, that was a pretty kick ass fight between him and Anna. :) So, there's a surprise coming up in the next chapter, so BE PREPARED! **


	19. Searching For Andrea

"What's your beef with Merle, anyway?" Glenn asked me as the group, including the handless man himself, sat around the fire to discuss matters that we needed to tend to. I was sitting on Daryl's lap, his arms around my waist and my hands on his. We were getting stared at, but we didn't care, or at least I didn't. I was happy with him, regardless of what anyone said, and after the events in the reservoir, it was clear that Daryl was happy with me as well. T-Dog happened to notice the bite mark on Daryl's shoulder when he was changing shirts, but he didn't say anything. He made gestures that only I would understand. It was one of the reasons why I liked the dark skinned man. He was funny, but he wasn't rude about it.

"The bastard tried to kill me." I said smugly. "We met in Atlanta. It was after he cauterized his hand. The guy couldn't even stand up straight, so I carried him on my back to a moving truck. He's a little heavy, so I had to make some changes to my appearance to carry him all the way there."

"You left me for dead, you dumb bitch." He mumbled.

"You fucking shot at me!" I defended. "He freaked out when he saw me in my, ahem, different form."

"Ah, hell." He stood up. "You're tellin' me that they know?" When I slowly nodded, he huffed. "What the hell are you?"

I took a breath. "I'm a werewolf, Merle." I said with strange ease. "Probably the only one left."

"Woah, woah." He held up his good hand while he shook his head. There was something off about his reaction, and not the fact that he was reacting at all, it was the fact that it seemed... Fake. I shook it off and he continued. "You're a what?"

"Did you not hear her the first time?" Carol asked quietly. I knew that the apocalypse changed people, but Carol never failed to take me by surprise when she spoke up in her defense or someone else's.

"Don't you get sassy with me." He pointed a finger at her. "Course I heard her the first fuckin' time. Werewolves ain't real." His heart skipped in a tiny beat as the lie slipped his lips. Now I knew something was up, but I wasn't going to bring it to attention here. "This bitch has got y'all believin' in crazy shit that she's tellin' you."

"You didn't see what we saw, Merle." Lori said. "We watched her change into a..." She paused to realize what she was telling him. "A monster."

"Can we change the subject, please?" I asked. "As much as I like my fanclub, I think we should focus on finding Andrea, rather than on me."

"Conceited bitch." Shane mumbled under his breath. I shot him a look, and ignored his remark.

"She ran when the walkers attacked, right? The only reasonable place to go would be the woods, so I could start there and track her."

"Daryl, Merle and Glenn can go with you." Rick said.

I rolled my eyes at the mention of Merle's name. "Fine, but if he gives me trouble, I'm feeding him to the first walker I see."

"Fair deal." He nodded. "You leavin' tomorrow morning, then?"

I nodded. "Need to get a headstart, so before sunrise good?" I asked Glenn and Daryl, not really caring what Merle had to say on the matter. They nodded in agreement. "Good. I'm getting some sleep then. 'Night." I went into Daryl's tent and plopped down on the blankets, hoping that Daryl would follow me. Again, he secluded his tent a fair distance from the others, and I wanted to put that distance to good use. I slipped off my clothes and wrapped Daryl's jacket around my naked body. Then, I laid down, pretending to sleep under the blanket until Daryl decided to join me.

After a few minutes, Daryl unzipped the tent door and slipped in. He laid next to me, putting an arm around my waist. I put my hand on his, moving it down towards my sex. He took advantage, moving on top of me, kissing my neck. I unbuttoned his shirt, observing the bite mark that I'd made. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was kinda sexy." He chuckled. "Why'd you do it?"

I took a deep breath, not sure how he'd react. "I marked you."

"As a, uh, whatcha-call-it... A mate?"

I nodded. "Mhmm. We only mark one person, you know."

"Well, it was very naughty of you to do that." He smirked.

"Damn, this means I get punished, right?" I said sarcastically.

He unexpectedly rammed his fingers into me, making me whimper as my hand flew to his shoulder. My nails dug into his flesh. "That depends." He started swirling his fingers in a pattern that made me buck my hips. "Do you wanna be punished?"

I nodded as waves of pleasure rocked my body. "Tell me what you want me to do." I said in between breathy moans.

And he did.

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><p>Daryl, Glenn, Merle and I were already halfway back to the farm when the sun came up. It wasn't long before we started noticing a trail of dead walkers, all with clean shots to the head.<p>

"I always knew that sugartits was a good shot."

I rolled my eyes. "We need to split up. See that headless one over there? That's where the trail ends."

"So who goes with who?" Glenn asked, looking in hope at me and Daryl.

"I'd say that I'd go with Daryl, but I don't trust him." I nodded curtly at Merle. "Daryl, go with Glenn, and I'll take care of shit stain, here." I gave the younger Dixon a quick kiss on the lips. "We'll meet back here in an hour."

"Be careful with him." Daryl whispered to me.

I winked at him, then pushed Merle. "You first." As I walked behind him, a familiar scent wafted in the air. I shook it off, thinking that I was just smelling me and I was being paranoid. I looked back towards Daryl and Glenn, but they were already gone.

By the time thirty minutes rolled around, I wasn't catching any strange scents but the one that I smelled earlier. It was stronger, clouding around me like a strong perfume. "We need to head back." I turned to Merle, but he wasn't there. "Merle?"

"Right here, sweetheart." I whipped my head around, only to be shoved and held against a tree. I struggled, but he was abnormally strong. "You know, a man should never want what his baby brother's got, but damn. It's just that time of year, and I want me a bitch to raise my puppies." My jaw dropped as I watched his eyes go from blue to a fluorescent red. A growl erupted from his chest, and I gasped. The dominance, the eye color, the scent. I was so distracted by Daryl that I didn't even notice.

My body's automatic response was to change to my beta form, and I only spoke three words before I attacked. "You're an alpha."

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><p><strong>OH SHIT! What did y'all think? I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter. Did I lose you guys? :'**


	20. An Excuse For Tears

I slapped him, digging gashes into his cheek as my nails scraped his skin. When his grip loosened on me, I pushed him with all my strength. He flew into the tree opposite of the one that I was against. In a blur, his hands latched onto my shirt and he tossed me, like I was a pebble, twenty feet from where I was once standing. With a sickening crack and a fiery pain, I felt my arm and leg break when I landed.

"That's right, sweetheart." He grinned, flashing his yellowed canines. "How do you think I healed up so damned quick? After your pretty little ass left me for dead, a good Samaritan came along and stuck with him for a while, 'til the bastard bit me while I's sleepin'. Then I killed him, and here I am." He strode over to me, then pinned me to the ground. "At first, I hated it. Tried to kill myself, then I figured out that what I am gives me a bigger high than what I had in my saddlebags." He chuckled darkly, and then he inhaled deeply. "You smell so nice; so delicious."

"You bastard." I came to realization as to how he found our camp. "You followed my scent."

"You wasn't that far from where I was stayin' at. Besides, I ain't the only one; had to get rid of a few others on the way here. You were wrong when you said you's probably the only were left. We're all around you, baby doll."

I struggled under his grip, accidentally rubbing myself against him. "Get off of me." I demanded.

"How 'bout I get off in you." He growled with an evil smile. His nails ripped my pants and he threw them aside.

"Daryl!" I screamed as loud as I could, only hoping that he or Glenn would hear me.

Merle slapped me. "Shut up. You don't need him. I'm the older one; I got the bigger cock, sweetheart."

I kicked my feet, trying to hit him in his groin. "He's more of a man than you'll ever be. And dick size? Please." I said sarcastically. "He's definitely got you beat." I felt my arm burn as it slowly started to heal. My leg was taking longer since he was sitting on it. Despite the pain, I clasped my fingers around his throat and squeezed. What made me sick was that I could feel that he was getting aroused by that action. I raised my knee and made a lucky shot.

His closed fist pounded the side of my face, breaking hundreds of tiny bones under my skin. I screamed at the pain, praying that someone would help me. He started choking me after I loosened my fingers, my vision starting to blur.

"Hey!" I heard Daryl's voice. It sounded like he was underwater, but I heard him clearly. I watched as an arrow pierced Merle's chest, knocking him off balance. I felt the sudden rush of blood flow to my head and adrenaline rush took over my body after the light-headedness wore off. I saw red and pounced on Merle, using my teeth and nails to rip open his throat. Blood filled my mouth, and then I twisted his neck until it snapped. His heartbeat slowed, finally coming to a stop. I suddenly felt more powerful; everything was clearer, my eyes stung, my gums burned, as did my broken bones.

Daryl started at me, his gaze full of anger and confusion, Glenn looked like he was going to get sick, Merle was dead, and I was an alpha now.

* * *

><p>I hobbled into camp, limping, holding my arm with blood drying on my face. Daryl and Glenn had left me behind, so they were already back. Shane was the first to hold his gun up to me. I kept walking until the shotgun barrel was pressed against my forehead. "This is the second time you've raised that same gun to me, Walsh." I said in a dangerously low voice. "Put it down before I shove it up your ass."<p>

"Where's Merle?" Rick asked.

I looked at Daryl and Glenn. "They didn't tell you?"

"No." He answered. "They haven't said anything since they got back. We thought you were dead."

"Well, I'm not; can't say the same for Merle, though." I smirked.

"Did a walker get him?" Carl piped up out of nowhere.

"Nah," Daryl grunted. "She did."

Shane put his gun down. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you not see the damage that I'm in?" I pointed to my face with my good hand. "It was self-defense. He tried to…" I paused, not really wanting to say what really happened. "He was an alpha." I looked at Shane, hoping that he wasn't getting the hint that I was one now. That was the last thing I really needed: Shane bugging the hell out of me.

He looked back at me. "So that means that you're…"

"She's an alpha." Glenn said breathlessly.

"That also means that I'll have to leave." I said with regret.

"What?" Carol asked. "Why?"

"I can't risk biting someone. "It's too dangerous."

Shane turned to Rick. "Can't we take her somewhere until it's over?"

"Oh, now you want me to stay." I rolled my eyes. "I don't think that'll work, Shane. I think its best that I leave."

Rick looked disappointed, but nodded with a sigh. "Alright, Anna. It's your choice."

My eyes flicked over to Daryl, who wasn't even paying attention to me at all. If Daryl didn't care that I left, maybe it was best that I did leave. "Alright then. I'll be gone before sunrise." Then I looked at Hershel. "Could you help me reset these?" I pointed to my face. "It'll be kind of tough to do it myself."

He nodded. "It's a painful process, you know."

"Let's get it over with, then. I just need them reset, then my body will heal on its own." I pointed out. "I'll get a knife."

After Hershel sat down next to me and cut my cheek open, it took me all I had not to cry. Then pain was almost unbearable, but not as bad as the emotional pain of Daryl not wanting me anymore. I had marked him because my inner wolf wanted him as my mate, to be with him forever. I was even starting to fall in love with him. Daryl looked at me and a tear escaped my eye as I longed for him to hug me and tell me everything was okay. At least I had the physical pain as an excuse for the tears.

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><p><strong>Oh My God. Anna's leaving! Do you think she's leaving because of her Alpha side, or because she can't live with what she did to Daryl? Reviews are fabulous!<strong>


	21. Wanted

Carol and I cried together for the first time that night. She and Carl were begging me not to leave, wrapping their arms around me, and telling me all the reasons why I shouldn't go. Most of them were good reasons; actually, all of them were good reasons. I was just convinced that I needed to leave for their safety. At least I thought that was the reason.

Rick, Glenn and Shane were begging me, too, but not with their voices. It was their eyes that gave them away. They shot me glances with pleading eyes, but Shane had other reasons for wanting me to stay, so his gaze said other words. I had actually weighed the option of giving in to Shane's request now that I was an alpha, but mentally smacked myself every time I thought about it.

Lori was her usual self; as was Maggie, telling Hershel that it was good that I was finally leaving. He'd even tried to get me to stay as he reworked my facial structure. "You're good for this group, you know." He said. "It'd be a shame if you left."

But it was Daryl that I was concerned about. I was beginning to feel used, but then I scolded myself for overlooking the fact that I killed the only living relative that he had left in this fucked up world. How could I have been so stupid? I did what was right for the group, right? I knew that deep down that Daryl would never forgive me, but I didn't want to accept it. I began to think that was the main reason why I wanted to leave.

I fell asleep outside, not wanting to intrude on anyone after what happened. When I woke up, Lori was waiting for me. "You here to shoot more criticism?" I spat, getting ready to walk past her.

She grabbed my arm. "Anna, I'm sorry."

"For what?" I yanked my arm away. "You didn't do anything."

"Yes, I did. I just… I didn't… I just worried about my son."

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore." I started walking past the tents and stopped beside Daryl's. I stood there in silence, listening to his soft breathing. It was the last time I would ever hear it.

"You really do love him, don't you?"

I wiped a tear away. "What's the point of loving someone if they don't love you back?"

"You need to give him time, Anna."

"Don't you dare give me relationship advice." I scowled as I pointed a finger at her. "If he wants me, he'll find me. If I told him how sorry I was, he wouldn't listen."

"That's just how Daryl is."

"Don't you think I know that by now?" Then I hung my head. "If I'd have let Merle do what he wanted, you all would be dead."

"You don't have to leave, you know." Lori whispered.

I nodded. "I know. I want to." Then, I snuck into Daryl's tent, careful not to step on any of his belongings. I dropped to my knees and kissed his forehead. "I know you're not awake, Daryl." I whispered. "I can hear your heartbeat, and I love to listen to it. I'm sorry." Then I exited his tent and left, hoping that they'd get along without me as well as they did before.

* * *

><p>He surprised me, coming up behind me, turning me around and kissing me. "You wanted me to find you." He mumbled against my lips. "Here I am."<p>

I kissed him back hungrily, tearing at his clothes. Daryl had come for me, just like I thought he wouldn't. He backed me against a large tree, pulling my shirt over my head to reveal my braless chest. He suckled the hard bud that centered my breast as he popped the button on my jeans. I threw my head back, blindly fumbling with his jeans. I kicked my pants off of my ankles, slightly shivering from the cool air against my bare skin.

"Put your legs around me, Anna." He growled in my ear. The way he said it turned my bones to Jell-O. I wrapped my legs around him as he dropped his jeans to his ankles. I wasn't even prepared for him slamming into me. I cried out, my wolf instantly responding. I dug my nails into his back as he pounded me. We were grunting, moaning, screaming and not caring if anyone heard or saw us. This was hot, desperate sex, and it was well worth pissing Daryl off.

"Baby, I'm close." I felt my eyes change hues as my climax approached. "Daryl, come with me." His speed increased and I felt him release at the same time as I did. I bit down on his same shoulder as last time, holding my mouth there for more than a moment.

"Damn it, Anna." He said in a husky tone, pressing his sweaty forehead against my heaving chest. Even though it was cool out, I felt like I'd been in a sauna. He slid out of me as my feet touched the ground.

"Why'd you come?" I asked him as we redressed.

"Well, I don't know 'bout you, but I thought that was pretty hot." He said with the famous Daryl Dixon smirk that I loved so much.

"No dumbass." I giggled. "What made you decide to come and find me?"

He paused. "Because I wantcha." His blue eyes gazed into mine. "But I'm still mad."

I wrapped my arms around him in an embrace. "Be mad at me all you want. At least I have my Daryl Dixon back." I kissed him and he put his harms around my waist, picking me up and holding me against him. I giggled as he spun around, like something out a corny romance movie. He stopped and my feet touched the ground, we both lost our balance and fell to the ground. I couldn't help but laugh. "Jeez, walk much?"

"Shut up." He laughed.

I stared at his face. "You know, I've never seen you smile like that before."

"Don't get used to it, babe."

"You called me babe!" I said. "What's gotten into you, Daryl?"

"You did." He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me onto him to where I was straddling him. "Will you come back to camp with me?"

I leaned down to kiss him after he settled his hands on my waist. "A horde of walkers couldn't stop me." I said with a loving smile.


	22. Mates Forever

"Two days, Daryl." I sighed as I lay with my head on his lap. He was running his fingers along my scalp, playing with my hair.

"What? 'Til the full moon?"

I nodded. "Mhmm. And there's something else that you need to know."

"What's that?"

"My, uh, mating season starts then."

"Your what?" He leaned over me, looking in my face.

"Mating season." I repeated. "It's kind of like being in heat for dogs, but it's more civilized than that. We find our mate this way. You don't have to worry, though." I pushed myself up on my elbows to kiss him. "I've already found mine."

"Good." He mumbled against my lips. "I'll shoot the bastard who tries to replace me."

I laughed. "Alright, mister crossbow-wielding, walker slaying, Zen man. Be easy." I took his hand and held it. "You don't have anything to worry about."

"I ain't easy when it comes to my woman." He smiled, and then kissed my forehead. "Ain't no one else tappin' that ass when I ain't lookin'."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I promise, Daryl. We'll have our own little mating frenzy when I get back."

"I like that idea." He chuckled. "But I'm serious, Anna. I ain't havin' you walk away again, and I sure as hell ain't watchin' another man go with you, Anna Wiley. I love you too damn much."

The corner of my mouth lifted up into a smile. "I love you, too, Daryl Dixon." I sighed and sat up, turning to face him. "I wish that you could go with me."

"Same here." He said. "But no matter what, you'll always come back to me, right?"

I smiled. "You bet your ass I will."

"Good." Then his expression turned serious. "Is there a difference between sex and makin' love?"

"Yes, those are two completely different terms."

He smirked. "You women know just about everything, don'tcha?"

Nodding, I said. "Yeah, and if you try to prove us wrong and succeed, we'll ban you from everything sex related."

"Can you 'splain how their different?"

"Uh," I thought for a second, then, "well, sex is sex. Making love is showing that other person how much you love them by handling them like they were fragile, you know?"

After a silent moment, he said, "I wanna do that with you."

"Really?" I asked.

He nodded, and then leaned in to kiss me. We stripped each other slowly, observing each other's bodies like prized possessions. My fingertips lined the healed marks that I'd made, one overlapping the other. When he entered me, he was slow, gentle, and kissing every part of my body, taking inventory of me. He traced kisses along my scars, he kept telling me how beautiful I was as I lay underneath him. His pace sped up as we reached our peaks. Our heartbeats were synced together, beating in the same rhythm so it sounded like were one person. That's what it felt like to me. Daryl and I were one, and I never wanted it to end. He kissed my lips passionately as we came together. "I love you, Anna."

* * *

><p>I was running. Running towards the scent that drove my insides wild. It was the scent of male arousal. It was intoxicating to me. I wanted it. <em>This is what mating season is for<em>. This male was strong, dominant. _New_. This wolf was definitely new. I was an alpha female, and I was determined to have this wolf as mine. I needed it.

I howled, searching for him. I heard a howl in return, and I followed it, running as fast as I could. When I found him, I sniffed him as he did the same to me, licking my arousal spot. I turned to him, and he mounted me. _Yes. _I felt pleasure invade my body. I started seeing images in my head. _Two humans, male and female, were having intercourse in the water, the female throwing her head back in orgasm_. Soon, we were howling as he released into me. _The same two humans mating on a fabric blanket, their hand all over each other, the male being dominant on top_. He sank his large canines into my shoulder, marking me. _The male pleasuring the female with his tongue_.

_Mine_. He said in a familiar voice inside my head.

_The two humans against a tree, the female biting the male on his shoulder._

_Mate_. I told him as he lay next to me, and we stayed that way until the sun rose.

* * *

><p>I woke up in a pile of leaves, fighting the grogginess by blinking my eyes. My naked body was freezing as the wet, dew covered leaves stuck to me. I couldn't remember anything about the night before, no matter how desperately I tried to remember. My surroundings weren't familiar at all, and I began to worry about where I was. How far did I get away from where I went last night? Was I close to camp? There was an arm around my waist, and I felt a warm body pressed against my back. I was almost scared to look behind me. I didn't want to face what I had done. The scent of another werewolf hung in the air, and I feared the worst. What have I done? <em>I went against my promise to Daryl. Oh no, what did I do?<em> But I was an alpha female, wasn't this what I was supposed to do? I had a bite mark on my shoulder, which meant that I was marked. I took a deep breath and turned, the healing mark on my shoulder stinging as I moved. I gasped as I saw who was sleeping next to me.

The werewolf by my side was Daryl Dixon.

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><p><strong>Dear readers, reviewers and subscribers that wanted Daryl to become a werewolf,<br>****THERE YOU GO! :D**

**Dear readers, reviewers and subscribers that want Shane to be one as well,  
><strong>**I'm still weighing that option. **

**Okay, I've typed over half of this story. I have the rest written out. THERE WILL BE A SEQUAL! Just letting you know! :) Anyway, read and review!**


	23. Strung Up

I was speechless as the fragments of last night flooded my brain. Daryl was a werewolf? How? Did Merle…? Then I remembered the bite I had given him while Daryl and I were 'making up'. It was my fault. "No." I said out loud.

Daryl suddenly stretched, then opened his eyes. He scrunched his nose in a way that I would have thought was cute if we were in a different situation. "Where are we?"

"Daryl." I said in a broken voice. "I…"

"What's that smell?" He interrupted. "It's sweet; like candy I ain't had since I was a kid."

He smelled me. That was what your mate was supposed to smell like to you. Something you wanted, but you couldn't have it. "Daryl. Uhm, what do you remember about last night?"

"I don't know, Anna, 'cept that I came out here and I felt this… Pain. I guess it was so bad that I passed ou- What the hell happened to your shoulder?" He suddenly looked angry. "Who the hell did that? Thought you said I ain't got nothin' to worry about, huh?" Then he stood up, the leaves falling off of his body like rain. "The fuck? Why am I fuckin' naked? What the hell is goin' on?"

I stood up and cupped his face with my hands. "Daryl, baby. You need to calm down. Please."

"Hell no, I ain't calmin' down. What the hell happened last night?"

I suddenly broke down. "It's my fault, Daryl." I said as a river of tears flowed down my face. "You're… You're cursed because of me. I bit you when we… Daryl, I… Fuck I'm so sorry." I didn't know what else to say. It was true. Daryl was cursed, and I did it. "I should've thought… But I didn't, and now… Oh, God." I fell to the ground, covering my face with my hands.

Daryl pulled me into a hug. "Anna? Baby, look at me." He my hands and held them in his. "Are you sayin' that I'm a… A werewolf?" I slowly nodded, afraid of his reaction. "Alright." He said after taking a deep breath. "I ain't mad, just confused is all. You just gotta help me understand, alright?" I nodded again as he kissed me deeply on the lips, our breath coming out of our noses in large puffs. "I'm gonna take a quick walk to process all this, alright? You stay here."

"Okay." I whispered . As I watched him walk away, I watched his nude ass sway, pale white compared to his tanned arms and back. "I like your tan line, by the way." I smirked, knowing he could hear me with his newly improved hearing. "And your ass."

He girlishly strut and slapped his own behind. I was rolling in the leaves from laughing so hard. This was new for him; he never played around like that. I was enjoying this new Daryl. "You think I could try out the runnin' thing?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Be careful, though. I ran into a few trees when I first tried it out." I watched him smile at me, and then he took off, running in a blur. With a smile, I took a deep breath and lay back down in the leaves. Then, I yelped when I realized a hooded figure stood above me. Two armless walkers were on chains that the person held. I also noticed that the walkers didn't have teeth when I stood up to face the human. I then felt a sharp stab of pain to the back of my head before darkness invaded my vision.

* * *

><p>I woke up hanging by my wrists. My feet weren't touching the ground, which happened to be gavel and small rocks. Looking up, I noticed that a dirty rope bound my wrists to a wooden frame. I looked straight out in front of me. The only thing I could see was trees. I could tell that I was on a hill, and if I looked to my left or right, my vision could skim a concrete building of some kind behind me. My shoulders hurt, so I guessed I'd been hanging there for a while. "Hello?" I yelled out as I struggled to let my bleeding wrists loose. <em>What happened to Daryl? <em>My mind asked me. I had no idea, but I was beginning to worry about him and the rest of the group. I was knocked unconscious before he had come back.

A door opened behind me and I heard the gravel crunch under someone's feet. I could make out the voices of three people, one woman and two men. They walked in front of me and stood there, watching me.

"You said this little girl killed Merle?" A man with a black eye patch asked the other two. He was definitely aged, but he had a stocky build, or maybe it was the thick coat that he wore. His wrinkles spread from his eyes like crow's feet and he wore an angry scowl that seemed permanent. Different sized scars stood out amongst his wrinkled features.

"That's right." Said a small black woman. She had long, wavy black hair, and she looked tough as nails. She was really pretty, except for the look in her eyes. If looks could kill, I'd be dead at her feet. Her hooded cape swirled around her feet as a chilling breeze blew softly. "I watched the entire thing." Her voice made her sound sophisticated, like she knew everything the world had to offer.

"And why'd you bring her here naked, Michonne?" The other man asked the woman. He was built exactly like Merle, but older with long white hair. He had an axe hanging off of a holster on his jeans and his flannel shirt was ripped in some places.

"That's how I found her." Michonne looked at the eye patch guy. "What do you want us to do with her, Phil?"

Phil nodded, considering the options that he had to deal with. "Let her hang here." He turned to walk away. "C'mon, Tyreese." He turned his head towards me. "See if the others that she was with come and get her." He paused. "If they don't, I'll deal with her."


	24. Spilled Blood

**OHHH! Two updates in one day! I'm on a roll! Haha. Hope you guys enjoy these chapters! And thank you,** **Jezebella Corvus, for filling up my review alert :D I want to hug you! Anyways, y'all. Be like her and review!**

* * *

><p>It was incredibly hard to sleep as I hung there. It had been two days since Michonne knocked me unconscious and drug me to the place that I learned was 'the prison'. Why hadn't Daryl and rest of the group found me yet? Couldn't Daryl smell me out? I hung my head, weak from not eating or drinking for two days and hanging through the freezing cold nights. I was almost positive that werewolves couldn't starve to death, but then again, I hadn't heard any success stories, either.<p>

The door opened behind me. Since I was weak, I couldn't smell as good as I should've been able to, but I recognized the gimp in Phil's steps immediately. Another set of footsteps trailed behind him that I couldn't identify… Not until the two of them stepped in front of me. My eyes widened as I recognized the person standing next to Phil.

"Oh my God." She said. "Anna?"

"Andrea." I said in a weak voice. "Where have you been? We looked for you?"

She ignored my question. "Why do you have her tied up?" She asked with a concerned voice. "I've been here for almost a month, and you couldn't tell me that she was here?"

"She killed Merle." He simply replied, not taking his eyes off of me. "He was our best man. He left before you came here, but never came back. Michonne told me what she saw, so I had her go fetch."

Andrea snorted. "Apparently if a little girl like this can kill him, he wasn't your best man. If she could do what she did, don't you think she'd be an asset? I'm kind of glad he didn't come back. I didn't want to see that douchebag anyway."

Phil nodded in consideration to her suggestion, but he still had his doubts. "That doesn't mean she's not dangerous, Andrea. How do you know her?"

"She was in our group."

"The one downstairs?" Andrea nodded. "Alright. Go bring her something to wear, and I'll stay here. Oh yes, bring a towel as well."

Andrea seemed surprised at his leniency, but the only thing running through my mind was what he said before that. They were here? How? Why did I not notice? "Alright." She said, and then she left Phil and me alone. As soon as the door closed behind her, Phil's demeanor changed completely.

"Don't think that because you're a girl, that I'm going to take it easy on you. You killed my best man, and you're not getting off easy." He pulled a coiled whip from his thick coat. "I believe five lashings in enough. What about you?" I closed my eyes, too tired to answer. Even if I protested, there wasn't anything I could do to stop him from doing what he was about to do. He walked behind me, trailing his fingers along my spine. "You know, for a young woman, you're very muscular and curvy. I wouldn't mind having you as mine." He chuckled darkly.

I could hear his boots on the gravel as he stepped backwards. The next thing I knew, the _swish _and _crack _filled the air as my skin split and my scream pierced my own ears. The burning pain intensified when he swung the whip again, spilling more of my blood. I screamed in pain, not knowing if anyone could hear me. The leather whip ripped into my flesh again, my warm blood tickling my skin as it dripped down my legs. A cold breeze numbed the pain from the last two swings.

The numbness was soon replaced by the burning of my body's healing process. Andrea came through the door as Phil was in the process of cutting me down. My feet hit the ground and I fell face first into the gravel. I hadn't properly used my legs for fifty hours, so I couldn't stand up on my own. "Put the clothes on her and bring her downstairs." He told the older blonde.

Andrea helped me up to my feet, then began patting the blood off of my body. "Is Daryl here?" I asked her, my throat raw from screaming.

She nodded softly. "He's throwing a fit down there. He heard you screaming and he's about to tear people apart." She paused. "Are you two together?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You'd think I'd be his last choice, huh?"

"I honestly thought he was gay." She said, earning a laugh from both of us. I flinched from the pain in my back, and then stepped into the jeans that Andrea brought me with her help. I stood up with jelly filled legs. Andrea held me up and put a loose fitting tee shirt over my head. "Do you want the hoodie, too? Or do you want to wait a while first?"

"No." I shook my head. "Give me time to heal up first."

"Look, back at the farm…"

I held up my hand as I interrupted her. "Don't. I don't feel like explaining it again. Ask Rick or Shane. They could tell you. Better yet, talk to Carl."

"So you really are a werewolf, huh?"

I held back a laugh. "Your reaction is a lot different than Lori's. Why?"

"You're going to laugh." She said as her face tinted a pinkish color.

"I promise I won't." I held up my pinky, and she wrapped hers around mine.

"Okay, you remember a movie called _The Wolfman_? With Lon Chaney Jr. and Claude Raines?" I nodded. "Yeah, well I was one of those people who watched it and instantly in werewolves, no matter what anyone said."

I smiled but not in a mocking way. "They don't get most of the stuff right, you know. Hollywood? No, barely at all. _The Wolfman _came close, though.

After a moment of silence, she asked me. "How does it feel? You know, to let loose and not care if anyone knows anymore."

"Let me tell you: it's fucking fantastic."

Andrea giggled. "Here, let me help you downstairs." Then, she looked at my back. "Are you sure that you don't want the hoodie? Some blood soaked through your shirt."

"Yeah, put it on." I nodded. "Daryl will flip shit if he sees it."

"Anna, I'm sorry about how I acted towards you before Dale…"

I shook my head. "It's fine, hun. Now, get me downstairs so Daryl doesn't rip Phil to shreds."

"Is he a-?

"Yeah." I interrupted her. "There may be blood spilled already."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! We found Andrea! And some girl bonding time! And yes, if anyone is wondering, Phil is the governor's real name. FUCK YOU PHIL for torturing Anna!<strong>


	25. Decisions

The room that Andrea led us to was more like a large corridor. We passed a lot of cells that were clad with large metal doors as we approached the group. I hated being inside this place because I'd spent so much time in cells like these, and I never wanted to re-live those memories. When we walked up to the group, I noticed that Rick's group was kind of huddled together and Phil, Michonne and Tyreese were in their own little group. Rick, Shane and T-Dog were struggling to hold Daryl back as he tried to attack Phil. The two different huddles were yelling back and forth at each other, not even acknowledging that Andrea and I were standing there.

Daryl was that first to notice our presence. He jerked free of the men's' hold and ran to embrace me. When he leaned in to kiss me, I slapped him across the face. "The hell was that for?" He yelled.

"That, Daryl Dixon, was for not finding me for two days." Then, I grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips to mine. "And that, Daryl Dixon, is because I missed you."

I felt his fingers lightly run over my back through my clothes. A look of regret pooled in his eyes. "I shouldn't have left you alone. I'm sorry."

I smiled in an assuring way. "Daryl, I'm fine. It's not your fault." I noticed that everyone was still bickering in the backdrop of our conversation. "Hey!" I yelled. "How about everybody shuts the fuck up? Yelling and arguing isn't getting you anywhere."

They all turned to stare at me with wide eyes. Did they think that because Phil used a whip on me that I would never cross him again? Ha! I'm not that smart. Carl then ran up to me, hugging me around my waist. "Anna! I thought I'd never see you again. I missed you."

"I missed you too, little man. You stay out of trouble while I was gone?"

Before he could answer, Phil stepped up. "What you need to do, is take this reunion somewhere else while we handle more important matters." He looked at me, then at Daryl. "You two, and the child, go that way while we discuss if your group's stay here is appropriate." He then signaled Andrea to come with them.

Daryl, Carl and I walked briskly, but Phil didn't know that Daryl and I could still hear the conversation when we were out of sight. "Mr. Grimes, is that your son that's with her?"

"Yes. Why does that matter to you?"

"She's dangerous, you know."

"Yes, we know that." Carol's voice sounded. "But she's also protective."

It was silent for a moment, and then Phil spoke again. "Are she and that man, Daryl, together?"

"Yes." Rick said. "They have been for a while."

"It's disgusting." I heard Phil say. Daryl gave my hand a gentle squeeze, showing that he heard it too. "I won't allow it if you stay here. It's uncommon."

"But can't you see that they're in love?" Maybe I'd come to not hate Lori so much after all. "They can't help that."

"They can if they want a place to sleep at night." His voice was low, and it made me furious. "Those are my conditions for your stay. Is there anything else I should know?"

"No." T-Dog said almost a little too quickly.

"Actually, there's something you should know about Anna and Daryl." _Damn it, Maggie, no!_

"No, there isn't." Hershel's voice was stern.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked.

Glenn spoke up nervously. "They just have really bad tempers, to say the least, you know?"

"Are you kidding?" Maggie questioned. "You left out the part where they howl at the moon." _You fucking cunt!_

"Oh my." That was all that Phil said before I ran in the other direction with tears filling my eyes.

* * *

><p>I'd been crying into Daryl's chest for two hours straight. The front of his shirt was soaked with tears. It wasn't the fact that Maggie let out our secret to an already dangerous man. It was that they had ordered Daryl and me to leave. It took a while, but Maggie had convinced Phil of what we were. He then locked Daryl and me in a cell together, and then gave us five hours to make our decision. Daryl and I could leave, or our entire group could leave. I was just reunited with the group, and now I was being forced to make a decision for them? Honestly, I wanted us all to leave together, but I had come to think of them as my family, so I had to think of their safety. I had to care more about them than I did myself now. They needed a place to stay more than I did. They deserved it. Maggie didn't, but Hershel did. Then there was Daryl to think about. What would he want to do?<p>

"I think we should leave. Just you and me." He said, sucking me out of my own head.

"You were probing me, weren't you?"

He chuckled a little. "Well, I wasn't really tryin'. I could just hear your voice in my head; clear as day." He paused and kissed the top of my head. "You really want 'em to stay here?"

"They need a safe place, Daryl. I know that this is a safe haven; safest place around. I mean, my uncle died in here from being here for thirty-seven years, but other than that, it has steady walls, layers of fences and they probably have tons of canned food in the kitchen."

"How do you know so much about this place?"

"It's the Georgia Department of Corrections. It's the largest prison system in Georgia. Of course I know about it. Trust me, Daryl. I wasn't little miss innocent before all this happened. How do you think that I know Rick so well? I couldn't cope well with others, so they stuck me in here for a couple weeks at a time."

"Well, damn. I got me a bad girl."

"You're not helping, Daryl."

"Aw, come one. I'm just tryin' to lighten the mood a little." He put his finger under my chin. "Anna, look at me." I raised my head to stare into his eyes that I was so in love with. "We don't have to listen to that Phil guy. We can kill 'em, can't we? We're stronger than he is."

"Daryl, I understand where you're coming from, but it's not that simple. We have to be responsible about being what we are. I love you, but that's irrational."

"But… I don't know. I still think me and you should get out of here. Hide out somewhere, raise us some pups and live happily ever fuckin' after, whatever that may be these days."

I sighed. "If only it was that simple."

He kissed me softly. "It is. You just gotta think outside the box. C'mon, Anna. Let's leave this place, be ourselves without gettin' bitched at or thrown outta places. Let's be normal, or as normal as we can get. I love you, so I'll be happy anywhere we decide to stay at. Think about it. They don't need us anymore."

"You're right, Daryl. But what if they need us later on? What if we can't make it without them?"

"Then we can track 'em down later on. Trust me, Anna. We need to do this."

I hated to admit that Daryl was completely right.


	26. Goodbye

"Have you made your choice?" Phil stood in the doorway of our private cell. I stopped my pacing that had become a habit as Daryl laid on the cot, waiting for our release. Phil's face was so… Tense; so serious. I never believed that someone could look like that all of the time, but he managed to do so.

I looked at Daryl because I didn't want to answer Phil's question. He sat up, and then looked at the older man. "We're thinkin' 'bout leavin' tonight when everyone's sleepin'."

"You're sure about this?"

I nodded. "Just don't let anyone else know. I don't want to cause a big scene."

"I admit," he said. "You're mature for your age, but you're also ignorant, like any teenager. What you're doing with this man is grotesque, even if the world has ended. You'd do better to respect society."

"Why don'tcha respect us and get the fuck outta here?" Daryl put his arm around me. "It ain't none of your business what Anna and me do. We'll be outta your hair soon enough." I looked up at his face, which was full of anger. "Do somethin' useful and wish us luck or somethin'."

"And I will do so when you walk out those doors." He nodded in farewell, and then walked away.

I put my hand on Daryl's cheek in hopes of calming him down. "Are you okay?"

"Does it ever go away?" He asked me.

I cocked my head a little. "Does what ever go away?"

"That feelin' of wantin' to kill someone all the time."

"Naturally, no." I said. "But I can show you how to get rid of it."

A smirk lit up his face and that twinkle in his eye made me shake my head. "Lord have mercy. You men are always thinking about sex, aren't you?" I giggled. "No, I'm talking physical exercise." His grin grew even wider. "I'm not helping, am I?"

"Nope." He chuckled, and then asked a random question. "How many scars do you have?"

I was suddenly self-conscious. "A fair few. What about you?"

"Same here." He said, and then asked me, "You never asked me 'bout 'em before. People are always askin' me what happened here." He ran my hand across his chest. "How come you don't?"

"Well," I began. "If I don't like people asking about mine, I don't intrude on anyone else's private stories. So what did happen there?"

"Merle." He said with an angry tone. "Fuckin' bastard sliced me when we's fighin' one time." His face softened a little. "What about the one on your sides?"

"Well, the one on my right was the one that healed after Shane found me, and this ugly bastard on my right is from when I was bitten. Bastard tore me the hell up." When I lifted up my shirt, I smelled Daryl's slight arousal, so I sat on the cot and faced him. "How long do you think we have before he comes back?"

"Long enough." In response, I pulled him towards me by his belt loops and bit my lip as I unzipped his jeans. He ran his fingers through my hair and put my mouth to work.

* * *

><p>Daryl and I were eating in the kitchen by the time Tyreese and Michonne came to get us. The soup was cold, but it was better than raw squirrel. I was really nervous about leaving Rick, Carol and the rest of the group, mostly because I had come to think of them as my pack. Even Maggie had earned her place as the stupid snitch. I was worried that they wouldn't last here, that something would go wrong and Daryl and I would be too far away to sense if they needed help. The only thing I could do now was hope and wish for the best.<p>

"Are you guys ready?" Michonne asked.

I was already finished with my small excuse for a meal and nodded. Daryl nodded as well and stood up to face me. "You alright?"

I nodded. "I want to talk to Phil first, though."

Tyreese nodded. "I'll get him."

When he left, Michonne looked at me. "I'm sorry about what's happening. He's a hard man to get along with, especially after what happened to Penny…" Her voice trailed off. "His daughter was the same age as you, Anna. That's the main reason why he disagrees with your relationship. As for the… Werewolf thing, I guess he doesn't know what to think of it, but when Phil makes his mind, that's how things will go. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't expect any less from his reaction."

"I can't believe that girl told us like that. I'm surprised you didn't beat her to a pulp."

I sighed. "I thought about it, honestly, but I'm not that kind of person. Karma will do the job for me soon enough."

Michonne smiled and nodded. "That's a good of answer as any."

Phil suddenly walked in, glaring at me and Daryl. "Tyreese said you wanted to talk to me?"

I nodded. "I want your word on something." He just continued to look at me, so I went ahead and told him what I wanted. "I want your word that you'll protect them with everything you have."

"Why would I do that?"

"They're like my pack, okay? They took me in when no one else would, they gave me a place to stay, food to eat, someone to talk to, and they accepted me when they knew I was different. I owe it to them to keep them safe, and I want your word on it."

He nodded curtly. "You have my word. I can respect a person who thinks about others more than themselves." He held out his hand for me to shake it, and I did.

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." I looked at Michonne with a smile. "If they ask where we are in the morning, tell them that it was our choice to let them stay here and that it's for their safety. Rick will understand, but it may take the others some time to register. And Michonne? Will you tell Carol and Carl that I will always remember them? And that this isn't goodbye?" I felt tears well up in my eyes.

She nodded. "I will."

I smiled at her, and then looked at Phil. "Walk us to the door?"

He nodded, and then we walked through the dark, empty corridors towards the exit of the large prison. When we reached the door, Phil shook my hand again. "Good luck out there. I will keep to my word and promise." Then he looked at Daryl. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah," He paused for a second. "Will you give my crossbow to Rick? Tell him that he needs it more than me and to be a good man like he always has been."

"I will." Phil opened the door. "Be careful."

I took Daryl's hand and walked out the large door and Phil, Michonne and Tyreese watched us walk out as the gates opened when Phil pushed a button. It was chilly out and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. Daryl and I took a deep breath and the gates slid shut behind us as we walked into the night.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. This is kind of itching for a sequel, huh? Well, it's going to happen! Let me finish my Blade and Cigarette Burns stories first and then I'll get started! If you subscribe to my profile, it'll let you know when I have new stories out and stuff :D I'm so happy that you guys enjoyed this story and I love that you all take time to review! P.S. I'm sorry to let a spoiler loose, but all the good stuff with Shane is in the sequel :D Anyways! Thank you guys for being my support system! All my love goes out to you guys!<strong>

**Love, LovinNorman'sChestTatt**


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